Monument to Canadian Aid Workers
The Story
The Monument project was initiated when two Canadian aid workers were killed in the space of three weeks, in senseless acts of violence, while pursuing their humanitarian work abroad.
Tim Stone, Executive Director of HealthBridge (formerly PATH Canada), was killed on November 23, 1996 on a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed over the Comoros Islands when it ran out of fuel.
Nancy Malloy, a member of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), was on a mission for the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) in Chechnya when she and six colleagues working with the International Committee of the Red Cross were shot in their beds on December 17, 1996.
Led by Sian FitzGerald, who worked with Tim, and Tim's widow Jean Lash, HealthBridge enlisted the help of the CRC and the CNA to find a way to honour Canadians who lost their lives in the Global South as a direct result of the risks they face in their development work.
A Monument Fund was established to receive donations for the creation of the Monument. Donations were received from across the country.
With those donations, HealthBridge also established the Tim Stone Memorial Award. The goal of the Award is to encourage young people who are considering a career in international development. This award is granted through a nomination process. Application is not restricted to Canadians. Suitable candidates in countries where HealthBridge works either directly or closely with partners are encouraged.


Monument to Canadian Aid Workers
The Design
The Monument to Canadian Aid Workers was unveiled by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson at a ceremony on June 28, 2001 in Ottawa's Rideau Falls Park.
Canada now has a permanent monument to recognize those who work in the field of international development and humanitarian assistance, and especially to acknowledge those who have died doing so.
The monument, entitled Reflection, was created by Nova Scotia sculptor John Greer after a Canada-wide design competition.
Greer's design is composed of three elements installed on an intimately sized court. Two benches installed on either side of the court appear to be a single bed reflecting on its twin. The second element, the altar/bridge, spans the court and represents the loss and the gain – the journey of international aid work. The final element, two large bronze feathers, represents the human component of the work, both the individual and the remembered sacrifice of all aid workers.
Unveiling the monument, Mme Clarkson told onlookers: “The Canadian aid workers that we honour were all leaders blessed with deep personal conviction...yearning to help others. Above all, they were devoted to human interests, concerned with the human condition."

Monument to Canadian Aid Workers
Lost Canadian aid workers
HealthBridge has compiled a record of aid workers who have died overseas and whose names have been sent to us. HealthBridge continues to add names to the list as reported to us. To enquire about adding names to the list, please contact:
Administrator
Tel: (613) 241-3927 ext. 312
Fax: (613) 241-7988
admin@healthbridge.ca
Monument to Canadian Aid Workers
Lost Canadian aid workers
This is a list of names, reported by others, and a place to tell the stories of Canadians who died in the service of international development and humanitarian assistance.
Name of individual | Position And/or Overseas Assignment | Year, Place And Cause Of Death (if Known) |
---|---|---|
2010s | ||
Guillaume Siemienski |
CIDA assignment with the United Nations |
Earth quake, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January, 2010 |
2000s | ||
Shirley Case |
IRC (International Rescue Committee) |
Roadside ambush, Kabul, Afghanistan, August 13, 2008 |
Jacqueline Kirk |
IRC (International Rescue Committee) |
Roadside ambush, Kabul, Afghanistan, August 13, 2008 |
Nicolas Parenteau |
CUSO cooperant, based in Thailand |
Traffic accident, February 21, 2008 |
Elmer Arias Chinchilla |
Project Manager in Haiti for the Canadian Red Cross |
Natural causes, Haiti, 2008 |
Stewart Sutherland |
CECI (Centre d'etude et de cooperation internationale) |
Hypertension, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 10, 2007 |
Isabelle Pelletier |
Oxfam- |
Cerebral Malaria, Zabré, Burkina Faso, November 25, 2006 |
Jennifer Headley |
World Wildlife Fund co- |
Helicopter crash, Nepal, September 23, 2006 |
Sally Miller |
Head of Delegation in Liberia – International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies |
Natural causes, Liberia, 2006 |
François- |
Plan Nagua - |
Collapse of a school, Batey Mata los Indios in D.R., June 16, 2004 |
Scott Mackie |
VSO Volunteer: computer studies on assignment in Northern Namibia |
Natural causes, November 12, 2003 |
Christopher Klein- |
Senior Project Officer, UNICEF Iraq |
Bombing of the UN HQ in Baghdad, August 19, 2003 |
Jean- |
Mining Engineer, Americas Branch, CIDA, on mission in Bolivia |
Car accident, near Santa Cruz, Bolivia, May 18, 2003 |
Errol Van Huyssteen |
Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Canada, on mission in Bolivia |
Car accident, near Santa Cruz, Bolivia, May 18, 2003 |
Louis Vincent St- |
CSI Saguenay- |
Motor- |
Vatche Arslanian |
Canadian Red Cross Member on mission in Iraq. |
The vehicle he and other International Red Cross staff members were traveling in was caught in cross fire, Baghdad April 8, 2003 |
John Scoggan |
Technical Advisor, Care Canada, on mission in Puno, Peru |
Heart Attack, Puno, Peru, September 30, 2002 |
María Jesús Ginés |
IDRC, (on secondment to CIAT as a project coordinator), Cali, Colombia. |
Airplane crash, border between Ecuador and Colombia, January 28, 2002 |
Dina Awate |
Oxfam- |
Car accident in Sudan, 2000 |
Bob & Ruth Chapman |
Co- |
Airplane crash off the Ivory Coast in Western Africa January 2000 |
Jean- |
CUSO cooperant based in the South Pacific. |
Unknown; died in his sleep on Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, 2000 |
Gordon Reay, Lieutenant- (Ret'd) |
Advisor to the Ambassador for Mine Action (i.e., landmines), DFAIT. |
Automobile accident in Croatia, 2000. |
Michelle Spencer- |
CUSO cooperant based in Belize. |
Struck by an impaired driver in Belize, 2000 |
1990s | ||
Renee Sabatier |
Director of the southern African AIDS Training Programme for CPHA, based in Zimbabwe. |
Died in Zambia of natural causes, 1999 |
Dan Rowan |
Project manager, Kosovo, International Relations Division, Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). |
Killed en route to Pristina, Kosovo in 1999 when the World Food Programme plane in which he and 23 other people (3 crew members, 19 humanitarian aid workers and 1 Government of Canada employee) were traveling, crashed into a mountain ridge. |
Katherine Fleming |
Worked for UNICEF in Tanzania. |
Died of unknown causes in Tanzania, 1999 |
Ron Audette |
International development consultant. |
Heart attack while on a consultancy in Nepal, 1997 |
Anthony Wielemaker |
Volunteer for CRWRC on assignment with Christian Reformed World Missions. |
Died in Kingston, Ontario in 1997, as a result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in the Dominican Republic. |
Tim Stone |
Executive Director of PATH Canada. |
Killed in a hijacked airplane when it crashed off the Comoros Islands in 1996 |
Nancy Malloy |
Canadian Red Cross staff member on an overseas mission with the International Committee of the Red Cross |
Shot in a field hospital in Chechnya, 1996 |
Hendrick Marinus Abma |
Volunteer for CRWRC in Senegal, while accompanying spouse on posting. |
Car accident in Senegal, 1996. |
Chantal Lapaire |
Radio- |
Airplane crash in Cameroon, 1995 |
Susan Lesjak |
Oxfam- |
Car accident in China, 1994 |
Suzanne Séguin- |
World Vision Canada Southern Africa Programme Officer. |
Died in South Africa in 1994 from malaria contracted in Malawi |
Otto Roesch |
Treat University professor who undertook research and NGO volunteer activities in Mozambique. |
Car accident in Mozambique, 1994 |
Jean- |
CIDA, on mission in India |
1993 |
Michael Walsh |
CUSO cooperant based in Thailand. |
1993 |
Peter Kennedy |
CUSO cooperant based in South Africa. |
1993 |
John Murrant |
CUSO cooperant based in Thailand. |
1992 |
Yves Masson |
WUSC Field Director, Benin |
Died tragically in a car accident at dusk, 1992. |
Louise Roy |
Oxfam- |
Car accident in Nicaragua, 1991 |
Rebecca Reiss |
CUSO cooperant based in Mozambique. |
1991 |
Patricia Moro |
Oxfam- |
Car accident in Ghana, 1991. |
Jill McMaster |
CIDA development officer based in Zimbabwe. |
Died of cancer in Zimbabwe, 1991 |
Patricia Harland |
DFAIT foreign service officer based in Kenya. |
Car accident in Kenya, 1991 |
Dan O'Hanley |
Associate member of the Scarboroug Foreign Missions, Missionary with the Latin American Mission Program. Worked first as a pastor, and later to form peasant cooperatives in rural Nicaragua. |
Killed in Managua, Nicaragua as a result of a botched robbery in July, 1991 |
Norm Tattersal |
World Vision Canada staff member. |
Gunned down in front of WV office in Peru, 1990, along with José Chuquin, WV Director for Colombia. |
Alan Masters |
CUSO cooperant based in Bolivia. |
1990 |
Joan Conway |
Adult educator and NGO consultant, working with the Centre for Adult and Continuing Education in Capetown, South Africa. |
Contracted encephalitis on a trip to South Africa, 1990 and died in Toronto shortly after her return. |
Rita Wall |
Mennonite Central Committee (Canada) volunteer. |
Car accident in Bolivia in the early 1990s. |
1980s | ||
Dan Duffy |
Newfoundland fisherman volunteering for Oxfam Canada in Nicaragua. |
Drowned in Nicaragua, 1989. |
William Russon |
CUSO cooperant based in Indonesia. |
1988 |
Dr. Maria Rovers |
Consultant for Horizons of Friendship in Honduras, on sabbatical from St. Francis Xavier University. |
Car accident in Mexico, 1988. |
Brian Krempien |
CUSO cooperant based in Mozambique. |
1988 |
Rhena Lee Hymovitch |
National Co- |
Drowned in El Salvador, 1988. |
Jonathan James Fyles |
Worked as a local journalist in Nicaragua, and volunteered for Canadian NGOs like Louis Riel Teachers' Brigade and Tools for Peace. |
Traffic accident in Nicaragua, 1988. |
Dr. John Dobson |
Consultant for Horizons of Friendship in Honduras, on sabbatical from St. Francis Xavier University. |
Car accident in Mexico, 1988. |
Mory Lewis |
CUSO cooperant based in Malaysia. |
1987 |
Jennifer Green |
Work placement for Canadian Action for Nicaragua. |
Killed in Nicaragua, 1987 when a hand grenade exploded accidentally. |
Max Bus |
CUSO cooperant based in Ghana. |
1987 |
Alexander McLelland |
CUSO cooperant based in Nigeria. |
1986 |
Larry Garinger |
Engineering Advisor to CIDA for the Karnali- |
Died of pancreatitis on route to better medical facilities in Kathmandu, Nepal, 1986 |
Willie Arsenault |
Canadian priest, based in Honduras, who was an associate of Horizons of Friendship in the field. |
Shot during a robbery attempt in Honduras in 1986. |
Marie O'Keefe |
Coady International Institute Registrar. |
Died in Barbados in 1984 while planning a Women's Consultation. |
Kona Matthews |
CUSO cooperant based in Nigeria. |
1984 |
Carmen Matthews |
CUSO cooperant based in Nigeria. |
1984 |
Marc Radomsky |
WUSC Volunteer, Zimbabwe |
1983 |
Heidi Trahmel |
CUSO cooperant based in Papua New Guinea. |
1982 |
Gordon Findlay |
CUSO cooperant based in Papua New Guinea. |
1982 |
Virginia Price |
CUSO cooperant based in Tanzania. |
1979 |
Clément Boulanger |
Worked with Mouvement de l'agriculture biologique in Quebec and active in NGO coalition SCS, working in the Sahel. |
Killed while being robbed on a beach in Senegal in the mid to late 1980s |
1970s | ||
Norman Riley |
Coady International Institute staff member; credit union specialist. |
Died in Malta while on assignment, 1979. |
Chris Oram |
CUSO cooperant based in Nigeria. |
1978 |
Ann Oram |
CUSO cooperant based in Nigeria. |
1978 |
Bryan James |
CUSO cooperant based in Indonesia. |
1978 |
Ed Reid |
CBC journalist on sabbatical, volunteering for Horizons of Friendship in Central America. |
Hit by a bus in El Salvador, 1977. |
William George Howard |
CUSO cooperant based in Malaysia. |
1975 |
Margaret Mariner |
CUSO cooperant based in Barbados. |
1974 |
Alan Kempton |
CUSO cooperant based in Jamaica. |
1974 |
Terrence Farebrother |
SUCO cooperant based in Ivory Coast. |
1974 |
Micheline Billette |
SUCO cooperant based in Ivory Coast. |
1974 |
Claire Miller |
SUCO cooperant based in Algeria. |
1973 |
Cicely Cornelius |
CUSO cooperant based in Barbados. |
1972 |
Jamie Brooks |
CUSO cooperant based in Nigeria. |
1972 |
Mark Andrew Ondrus |
CUSO cooperant based in Jamaica. |
1971 |
Francine Gregoire |
CUSO cooperant. |
1971 |
Louise Toupin |
CUSO cooperant based in Malawi. |
1970 |
Leo Nederveen |
CUSO cooperant based in Ghana. |
1970 |
Jack William Koster |
CUSO cooperant based in Nigeria. |
1970 |
Harry J.H. Durance |
CUSO cooperant based in Thailand. |
1970 |
1960s | ||
Julie Descoteaux |
CUSO cooperant. |
1969 |
Ann Wren |
CUSO cooperant based in Nigeria. |
1968 |
Shirley Ray |
CUSO cooperant based in Nigeria. |
1968 |
Stephen Flower |
CUSO cooperant based in Tanzania. |
1968 |
Raya Pearlman |
CUSO cooperant based in Peru. |
1966 |
Fr. Joe A. MacDonald |
Antigonish Diocesan priest who worked for the Puerto Rico Co- |
Died in Puerto Rico, 1966. |
Pat Gleason |
CUSO cooperant based in Guyana. |
1966 |
Lynn Caroline Dalziel |
CUSO cooperant based in Uganda. |
1966 |
Charles Topshee |
Worked setting up co- |
Became ill in Lesotho, returned to Canada and died; mid- |