Fundraiser begins with Toronto walk with 30 more across Canada
It was an emotional and inspiring Sunday morning in downtown Toronto’s Coronation Park, along the shores of Lake Ontario, where more than 350 people gathered to walk as part of Steps for Life, generating more than $85,000.
The annual event raises funds for Threads of Life, a charity that helps families impacted by workplace tragedies, so it was fitting that it also be held on the National Day of Mourning.
“I'm so honored to be here. I don't want to be here, but I'm honored to be here,” Fran DeFilippis told the crowd before the five-kilometre walk began. She shared her story of grief after losing her husband, Naz, in a preventable workplace incident in 2002.
They were young parents at the time, with a four-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son. 22 years later, the pain is still present. Their daughter Kristen, who is now 25, wrote a story for Threads of Life.
(Fran DeFilippis in Toronto’s Coronation Park on Sunday April 28, 2024)
DeFilippis says, “she summed it up in this very painful reality for me. Kristen wrote, to miss someone, you have to know them, have experiences with them, you have to remember them. I was too young. I don't have memories to miss my father. I miss the idea of my father. That is the reality that our life is forever changed.”
Every day in Canada, approximately three people will suffer from a job-related fatality, life altering injury, or die from an occupational disease. “We have to do better,” David Piccini told the group of walkers, which was made up on many health and safety leaders.
Piccini became Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development in September, and says he’s committed to improvement. “I encourage you to please work with us share your stories and let's ensure that together we're making Canada, this province, the safest place to go to work, to raise a family and to live in.”
Calls to be better were made by several other speaks in attendance, including Ontario’s Chief Prevention Officer, Dr. Joel Moody. He encouraged everyone to “not dwell solely on the sorrow” and instead use the National Day of Mourning “as an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the cause of ensuring that safety and the well being of every worker in this province. Let's turn our grief into action, our hurt into purpose.”
That’s what Steve Chaplin says he did 25 years ago when he was a “lonely field engineer” working in British Columbia and experienced his first workplace fatality. Chaplin is now the vice president of health, safety, and environment at EllisDon. He says that tragedy changed the course of his career, “and dedicate my life to trying to make a difference each and every day.”
It’s an all-too-common story for many health and safety professionals who find their way into this career because of something terrible. Threads of Life and the Steps for Life fundraiser help bring those stories together to share the pain, but also bridge gaps, and recommit to a safer tomorrow.
The very first Steps for Life event was held in Toronto on Ward’s Island in 2004. DeFilippis was there, and it had only been two years since she lost her husband. “There was a handful of people, it was pouring rain, we were freezing, we ate soggy sandwiches,” she recalls with a smile.
“But there was something so special about that. We wore our pain on our hearts, and we could look through each other's eyes and see that something special was happening amongst all our sorrows.”
Steps for Life events are taking place in 30 cities across Canada over the next few weeks. If you have the opportunity, it’s worth the walk.
