The MacQuarrie’s son, Bruce, was killed in a car accident on March 21, 2001 in Thomastown, Ireland building a house. He was 40-years-old and worked for Robert Roy’s Carpentry business when he and another worker were on their way to work one morning and a big truck came around the corner and hit the car MacQuarrie was driving.
MacQuarrie was a father, his son’s names are Ryan and Stephen, as well as a husband to Charlene.
“We come out just to show respect for him. He was a good worker and a wonderful father and to show him how much we love him and miss him,” Hilda said.
The family laid a rose down by the monuments in honour of their late son.
Other Islanders gathered at Province House to remember family and friends who have been injured or killed on the job. The services were held as a part of National Day of Mourning.
The P.E.I. Federation of Labour held the ceremony in front of Province House in Charlottetown to remember workers who were injured or killed on the job.
The Nurses Union of P.E.I. was also present at the ceremonies to lay a wreath down in honour of any workers injured or killed on P.E.I.
“P.E.I. Nurses Union is very honoured and pleased to have an invitation from the P.E.I. Federation of Labour to come and join them in this special day honouring people that have lost their lives and making sure we continue to keep work places safe,” said Mona O’Shea, president of the P.E.I. Nurses Union.
O’Shea said this is her second year as a participant for the ceremony and each year the service seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
The ceremony began at 2 p.m. on Saturday (April 28).
Gaye Hood sang O Canada, and Susan Frellick-Perry gave the invocation, followed by a moment of silence.
Labour Minister Janice Sherry was in attendance.
Wayne MacKinnon led everyone outside to the monuments playing the bagpipes where citizens participated in the wreath and rose laying ceremony. There was also a reception held following the ceremony.
This service started out as Worker’s Memorial Day in 1984 by the Canadian Union of Public Employees National Health and Safety Committee and was officially declared in 1985 by the Canadian Labour Congress as an annual day of remembrance.
In 1990, the Workers Mourning Day Act was passed by the federal government making April 28 the Day of Mourning for Persons Killed or Injured in the Workplace.
The Guardian
