This month has been one of celebration, remembrance and prayer in my riding of Brampton East and for Ontarians across the province. Over the last 30 days, members of the Hindu community celebrated Hanuman Jayanti to commemorate the birth of the Hindu deity Hanuman. The Christian community celebrated Easter to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ through prayer and gatherings with their loved ones. The Jewish community observed Passover in remembrance and recognition of the community’s strength, bravery and resilience. The Tamil communities celebrated Puthandu, the harvest festival which marks the beginning of the new year, as per the Tamil and Thai calendars. The Sikh community is celebrating Vaisakhi, marking the beginning of the harvest season in Punjab and the day the order of the Khalsa was created. And members of the Muslim community just celebrated Eid-Ul-Fitr to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Ontario is home to many individuals from diverse, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I am proud to celebrate our province’s multiculturalism and diversity. We’re lucky to live in such a cultural mosaic that brings people together in such a joyful and united manner. I look forward to continuing to celebrate and honour the diversity of our province as cultural events take place throughout the coming months and year.

This Friday, April 28, is the international Day of Mourning. It’s a point of pride for my community because the Day of Mourning was started in Sudbury in 1983. It was Steelworkers and CUPE members who noticed that there was a procession for a firefighter who had died, and they wanted that recognition for every worker who has been killed, injured, or who has suffered occupational disease. They chose April 28 because that was the day in 1914 that the workers’ compensation act received third reading.

Good ideas can’t be contained—1983, in Sudbury; 1984, the Canadian Labour Congress; 1989, the AFL-CIO; and in 1991, Canada recognized the international Day of Mourning for the first time. A great idea that started in Sudbury, the Day of Mourning, or Workers’ Memorial Day, is now celebrated in more than 100 countries around the world; we simply stopped counting after 100.

We recognize the Day of Mourning by wearing arm bands or pins with the canary in the coal mine or by holding flags at half-mast.

But most people remember the Day of Mourning because of the moment of silence. The moment of silence is reflective of the slogan of the Day of Mourning: “Remember the Dead, Fight for the Living.”

I challenge all members of the House, when the moment of silence is finished, to never be silent again when it comes to health and safety for workers in the workplace.

I’m very happy to introduce my good friends, Ganapathy Raveendran and his spouse, Ruby Yogadasan, president of Yugam Radio and Media Inc. They have promoted Tamil arts and culture for many, many years in our community. Also, Mr. Speaker, they celebrated a milestone birthday—70th birthday—last week. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.