HOUSE DESIGNATES

OTTAWA May 29^th, 2003

A Private Members' Motion put forward by Labrador MP Lawrence O'Brien, designating the second Sunday of December as National Children's Memorial Day, was passed in the House of Commons on Thursday evening. May 29, 2003
"It is a great honour for me that my first piece of private members' business was approved unanimously by my Parliamentary colleagues,” O’Brien said. The idea for the designation originated with Betty and Dennis Normore, two of Mr. O'Brien's constituents, who lost their daughter Paula in a snowmobile accident in 2001.
”The Normores have worked hard to find hope and strength for themselves and others, even in the face of their own personal loss," O'Brien said. “I am privileged and humbled to have been able to take their suggestion to the floor of the House, and pleased that my motion received the support of all parties."

Mr. Lawrence O'Brien (Labrador, Lib.) moved:

That, in the opinion of this House, the government should recognize the second Sunday of December as National Children's Memorial Day. He said: Mr. Speaker, this is a very special moment for all those people
throughout this great country who have lost their children through violence or other reasons and their children are no longer with them. I would like to make a special plea to the members of the House of Commons to support my motion. The motion speaks well of all and I am asking them to join with other nations to support a national Memorial Day for children.

Our children are very precious to us and we love them very much. Those of us who are parents certainly know what our children mean to us. It is quite heart-rending when a parent loses a child. The loss of a child is very
painful. The idea for the motion was originally suggested to me by colleagues, friends and constituents of mine from L'Anse-au-Loup, my hometown in Labrador, Betty and Dennis Normore. Betty and Dennis Normore lost a child, Paula, aged 14, two years ago in a very tragic accident. She was riding a snowmobile. The snowmobile did not make the embankment. She slid back down the hill and very unfortunately slid into a waterhole and under the ice. This happened in the month of January. It was tragic indeed. It is my great honour to stand here in this great House to ask that this day be honoured for children like Paula. Dennis is a teacher and principal at Mountain Field Academy in Forteau, Labrador and has worked with children all of his life. Betty is a health care worker who works with elderly people in a senior citizens home. We are talking about the great bookends of our society, the children on one end and the elders on the other. However, this is about children.

In 2001 the Normores lost their daughter Paula in a very tragic snowmobile accident. Paula was a bright student. A wonderful young woman was lost to us in that very tragic incident. It reminds us of how precious and fragile life is and the lives of our children. The loss of Paula was felt by the whole community and certainly by many throughout Labrador. Paula's memory is honoured every year by a benefit fundraiser organized by her family and friends and the community. The people she left behind are building something positive out of a tragic loss.

The National Children's Memorial Day is another way in which parents, family and other loved ones are finding their way through the tragedy of losing a child. This concept originated in 1996 in the United States. Through the strength of the Internet it has quickly spread at the grassroots level and has been promoted by many organizations which help parents and families cope with the death of a child.

The Compassionate Friends, an international self-help organization for bereaved parents and siblings, has been instrumental in promoting this event. The Compassionate Friends was founded in 1968 in England. The organization now has chapters in countries around the world, including the United States, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Australia, Russia and New Zealand. It has chapters in 29 countries in all. The Compassionate Friends is a grassroots organization of and for parents and siblings who are coping with the death of a child of any age from whatever cause. In Canada there are over 50 chapters of the Compassionate Friends providing support to grieving families across the country. On the second Sunday of December, families come together to remember, to grieve and to celebrate the lives of the children and to help one another.

That time of the year is particularly important for bereaved families who have to face the holidays without the child they loved so dearly. It allows parents and siblings to share their grief, to find comfort, to build strength and to heal, and especially to remember the young life they lost. An especially touching aspect of the day's observation is the "wave of light". At 7 p.m. local time, in public or in private, in towns and cities around the world, people gather to remember the special children they have lost. They symbolize their lives through the lighting of candles. This creates a wave of candlelight starting in New Zealand and spreading around the world. Each hour, as the candles burn down in one part of the world, the wave flickers up again in another. The candle flames, like children's lives, are fragile, but by joining with families around the world, every grieving loved one can find strength and healing. It is a non-denominational, multicultural commemoration that unites families and loved ones from around the world, not only in their grief but in their hope.

While the grief over the death of a child is something that surviving family members must live with every day, the National Children's Memorial Day will give families a special day to come together. It will help whole communities, health care professionals and others to raise awareness of the needs of bereaved families. This Memorial Day will help families continue to build something positive together out of their own personal tragedies.

In the United States, the Senate has recognized National Children's Memorial Day annually since 1999. The day is also marked in countries all around the world through the wave of light and other acts of remembrance. This private member's motion would, I believe, be the first case where a National Children's Memorial Day is permanently recognized by a national Parliament. This does not create a statutory or public holiday and does not cost Canadians or the Government of Canada anything financially. It does, however, allow us to recognize and show our support for grieving families and build something positive out of such tragic circumstances. I would like to commend Betty and Dennis Normore for the strength and courage they have shown after the loss of their daughter Paula. They are helping others in similar circumstances cope in their own way with their own loss.

I would also like to thank them for bringing their valuable suggestion to my attention. It is my honour and privilege to bring it before the House today. I would like to convey to the House my hope that National Children's Memorial Day will find support from all members of all parties and from all regions of the country. I hope we can work together to help bereaved families and all our communities find strength with one another and honour the memories of the precious children they have lost.

www.lawrenceobrien.ca

Lawrence O'Brien, MP

Labrador

“Compassion is daring to acknowledge our own destiny

so that we might move forward together.”

~ Henri Nouven