March, memorial service to mark 30th anniversary of Westray disaster
CBC
Joe MacKay will never forget the explosion at the Westray mine 30 years ago today.
The underground explosion in Plymouth, N.S., killed 26 miners. One of them was MacKay's brother, Mike.
"He loved his bikes, including a chopper he just thought the world of," said MacKay. "He loved his family. His kids meant everything to him."
Mike MacKay was 38. He was the father of two young children.
Like the other men who worked at the mine, he had only been working there for nine months after it opened in September 1991.
A methane gas leak in the mine shaft mixed with coal dust to cause the explosion.
The bodies of 11 miners were never found. Among those entombed was MacKay.
"The only reprieve I had is that my other brother was supposed to go in to work at the mine that night and he changed his mind and cancelled his shift," said Joe MacKay. "If it wasn't for that, he would have been down there, too."
On Monday at 6 p.m., there will be a march beginning at the Bluenose Curling Club and ending at the Westray Miners Memorial Park, where there will be a memorial service and celebration of life.
There will be an outreach program for high school students conducted during the day focusing on the impact the Westray disaster had on workplace safety regulations in Nova Scotia.
Many high school students from Pictou County will take part in person at the Museum of Industry in Stellarton. Other students in the province will be able to join a live stream.
"We are going to have about 40 high school kids come in and they'll hear from different speakers about the history of the mine and what their rights are when it comes to occupational health and safety," said Danny Cavanagh, the president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour.
Prior to the explosion, several safety concerns had been raised by employees, union officials and government inspectors. The incident resulted in changes to legislation regarding how to establish the criminal liability of corporations for workplace deaths and injuries.
Commonly referred to as the Westray Law, Bill C-45 came into force in 2004.
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