The pain of losing loved ones to workplace tragedy will be fresh in the minds of people across the province this year with the National Day of Mourning on Sunday.
The day is marked each year on April 28th to commemorate those who have lost their lives due to workplace accidents and illness.
Earlier this week, the communities of Lark Harbour and York Harbour were stricken with grief after two fish harvesters lost their lives when the boat they were on capsized close to shore.
Provincial Cabinet Minister Gerry Byrne says a funeral for the nephew and uncle, who he identifies as Nick Skinner and Trevor Childs, was held this afternoon in Lark Harbour.
Byrne says he knows the extended families of the two men very well, and the service will be “very emotional.”
On the eve of the National Day of Mourning, Byrne says it serves as a reminder that workplace injury and death are in our daily lives.
He says Skinner and Childs were out trying to provide for their families, and calls it “very, very sad.”
Meanwhile, The call for an inquiry into fishing vessel safety is picking up steam in the wake of the sinking of a dory on the west coast which claimed two lives on opening day of the lobster fishery.
Lin Paddock, the PC candidate in Green Bay-Baie Verte, agrees with Merv Wiseman, a former official with the Coast Guard, that it’s time for an inquiry into the safety component of vessels used to prosecute the fishery.
Paddock says fatal incidents are happening all too frequently.