Memorial unveiled honouring fallen workers

A memorial honouring more than 1,000 Italian workers who died in workplace accidents in Ontario over the past 100 years, the first of its kind in Canada, was unveiled at the Villa Charities campus at the Columbus Centre at 901 Lawrence Ave. W. in Toronto on April 28. The lost workers’ names were all inscribed on the monument.

The unveiling ceremony coincided with the International Day of Mourning for workers killed, injured or disabled on the job. The memorial is the culmination of a six-year effort to formally recognize Italian workers’ enormous sacrifices in the building and industrial development of Ontario.

Dominus president, Joe Cordiano, oversaw the construction of the project. He, sadly lost his own father in a construction accident when he was a young boy of two and his brother just a few months old. Cordiano’s father was 28.

“I didn’t get to know my father,” said Cordiano. “I didn’t get to experience all of those things fathers and sons do. And neither did my brother. And of course my mother lost a husband, a friend and partner.”

Once unveiled, family members of those lost searched for the name of their loved one on the monument. It was a day of remembering, a day of honouring those who lost their lives helping to build Ontario.

“Let us all agree that we will work together to make certain that no more names will need to be added to this monument because of a workplace accident,” added Cordiano.

To learn more about the memorial and the unveiling, visit italianfallenworkersmemorial.com