Official Days of Mourning

The Canadian government has a duty to honour all Canadians who have died in officially recognized days of mourning.

Since any future deaths of soldiers fighting in Afghanistan is an unknown event and flags are flown at half-mast when notification of death has occurred until the day of the funeral, it would be disrespectful and confusing to other Canadians who expect that flags will be flown at half-mast on official days of mourning if flags are also flown for fallen soldiers on the same day.

On such day is coming up this Friday. On April 28th is the National Day of Mourning for Canadian workers killed from on-the-job accidents. On this day the flag on Parliament Hill will be lowered to half-mast to honour the dead and improve safety on the job for the living.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has an officially recognized protocol. The following is an excerpt from their website:

The National Day of Mourning, held annually on April 28, was officially recognized by the federal government in 1991, eight years after the day of remembrance was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress. The Day of Mourning has since spread to about 80 countries around the world and has been adopted by the AFL-CIO and the International Confederation of Free Trade.

The Canadian flag on Parliament Hill will fly at half-mast. Workers will light candles, don ribbons and black armbands and observe moments of silence. Businesses are asked to participate by declaring April 28 a Day of Mourning and to strive to prevent workplace deaths, illnesses and injuries.

The Government of Saskatchewan has protocol on flying flags half-mast in which flags on provincial buildings are lowered, amongst other occasions, on “nationally agreed occasions, such as Remembrance Day, commemorations of police officers killed in the line of duty, workers killed or injured on the job, and violence against women.”

Since the Saskatchewan government recognizes that the federal government has specific jurisdiction on matters of nationally recognized days of mourning as well as international observances their protocol indicates that:

Flags are not normally half-masted for foreign or Commonwealth heads of state or government, as these are recognized by federal jurisdiction; nor for federal Ministers, Senators or Members of Parliament who are not from Saskatchewan.

I agree with Bill Graham that Canadians are proud of their soldiers and want to mourn along with their families in televised services – because we feel as Canadians were are very close to them.

Think about the psychology of having so many televised funerals on the general populace. It’s not about hiding the fact that our soldiers are dying – we know this is going to be a reality because we have been warned beforehand. This is about preserving our spirit as Canadians and not being discouraged because we actually do care – a lot. That’s who we are.

But we also don’t want those who are fighting not to think that we have forgotten about them so one of the ways to do that is to mourn as a Nation, which many of us feel we can best do that by participating in televised ceremonies that respects the privacy of the families.

I don’t think this is a matter of politics as the Liberals and the NDP are spinning. And Jack Layton should know better because the NDP’s support of labour should be respected by recognizing on the job deaths in a national day of mourning that is coming up this week. The Liberals inconsistent use of protocol just underscores their haphazard approach to officially recognized days of mourning that respects all Canadians.