February 4, 2003
Moment of silence to honour workers killed in helicopter crash
At 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, staff across the Ontario Public Service will hold a moment of silence to reflect on the deaths of four MNR employees.
Walter Ceolin, Bruce Stubbs and Chantelle Walkey were OPSEU members and Michael Maguire was a manager.
The four were conducting moose surveys north of Sault Ste. Marie when their helicopter went down.
OPSEU appreciates this opportunity to pay tribute to colleagues who lost their lives in the course of providing services to the public of Ontario, said President Leah Casselman.
“I am pleased that the government realizes that these deaths have an impact beyond the Ministry of Natural Resources where the four worked.
“As a union we extend our sympathies to the family and friends of the four who died. And as a union we will fight to enhance the safety of all workers,” she said.
“Let us take the opportunity on Thursday, when the moment of silence starts to remember those we have lost.
“But let us also commit ourselves to do our utmost to make sure that public service in Ontario never again requires the ultimate sacrifice from our members,” Casselman said.
“I know the MNR has a proud record of safety, and we will work with them to find out how this flight went so tragically wrong.”
Tribute on web
The OPSEU website has photos of the members who died in the accident, along with recollections from their co-workers.
It’s at http://www.opseu.org/notices/mnr2.htm .
Casselman points to double standard
Letter to the editor: Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Sun and National Post
I am struck by the double standard when people die in public service.
For example, when a police officer is killed, it is front page news for several days, but when four public servants die in the interests of conserving our natural resources, they rate a few paragraphs, once.
By further example, for the police, flags are at half mast across the province. For the others, the flags were lowered only at offices of the Ministry of Natural Resources and their union.
For the record, four fellow citizens died in the course of their work on Jan. 21. They were counting moose for the Ministry of Natural Resources north of Sault Ste. Marie when their helicopter crashed.
We lost Walter Ceolin, a conservation officer, two resource technicians, Bruce Stubbs and Chantelle Walkey and a manager, Michael Maguire, the helicopter pilot.
Where is the public outrage at their deaths? Where is the public respect for their sacrifice? Where is the public honour that is their due?
There are many dangerous jobs in the public service, and many more than police officers serve us and protect us.
It takes nothing away from the valued and important work of the police to also recognize the importance of all the other people who work on our behalf. The standard should be the same.
Leah Casselman,
President
Original authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, President
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