By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News
Dignitaries paid tribute over the weekend to an Alberta researcher who died last year in the High Arctic.
Politicians and labour leaders gathered at the Nunavut legislative assembly building Sunday for Canada’s National Day of Mourning. The day serves as a tribute to workers who have gotten sick, injured or died while doing their jobs.
Maya Bhatia’s name is now added to a book of remembrance of workers who died in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
Bhatia, a glacier researcher and professor at the University of Alberta, died Aug. 16 while conducting fieldwork near Grise Fiord.
“It was a devastating loss for the community and to this day, there’s grieving that’s taking place,” said David Akeeagok, Nunavut’s minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission.
“From the community, they want to see how they can reach out to the family and try and figure out, what else can they do?”
Akeeagok is from Grise Fiord and represents the community as MLA for Quttiktuq.
He described Bhatia as a friend to the community, which has a population of around 140.
The circumstances surrounding Bhatia’s death remain unclear, and Akeeagok said her body was never recovered.
“We’re not sure what the plans are for this upcoming spring in terms of any recovery,” he said.
“Visiting the community, they’re still wondering where the body is.”
Bhatia was the only person who died while working in Nunavut last year.
Labour leaders attending the ceremony called for all levels of government to take action to promote workplace safety and hold organizations accountable for workplace injuries and deaths.
Geoff Ryan, a spokesperson for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, said there are approximately 1,000 workplace deaths in Canada each year.
“One death is too many, everybody should be able to go home at the end of the day,” Ryan said.
“People shouldn’t die for their work.”
Bhatia’s name was added alongside Adam Yeadon, a firefighter who died battling wildfires in N.W.T. last summer.
