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Lost Canadian Aid Workers

The Monument to Canadian Aid Workers, unveiled in June 2001, commemorates Canadians’ commitment to international development and humanitarian assistance and to those who die in the line of this work.

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.

Lost Canadian Aid Workers Lost Canadian Aid Workers Lost Canadian Aid Workers

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-Québec Cooperant, Organizational development consultant

Cerebral Malaria, Zabré, Burkina Faso, November 25, 2006

Jennifer Headley

World Wildlife Fund  co-ordinator in Britain for the eastern Himalayas

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-Jacques Roussin

Plan Nagua - Quebec, Volunteer in Dominican Republic

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-Beekman

Senior Project Officer, UNICEF Iraq

Bombing of the UN HQ in Baghdad, August 19, 2003

Jean-Claude Lauzier

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-Hilaire-Gravel

CSI Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Cooperant in Burkina Faso

Motor-cycle accident, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, April 9, 2003

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-Québec Project Officer for Sudan, based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Car accident in Sudan, 2000

Bob & Ruth Chapman

Co-directors, Wycliffe Bible Translators for sub-Saharan Africa

Airplane crash off the Ivory Coast in Western Africa January 2000

Jean-Pierre Prud'homme

CUSO cooperant based in the South Pacific.

Unknown; died in his sleep on Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, 2000

Gordon Reay,

Lieutenant-General

(Ret'd)

Advisor to the Ambassador for Mine Action (i.e., landmines), DFAIT.

Automobile accident in Croatia, 2000.

Michelle Spencer-Yates

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-Québec journalist working on an AQOCI media project in West Africa.

Airplane crash in Cameroon, 1995

Susan Lesjak

Oxfam-Québec Regional Representative for Southeast Asia.

Car accident in China, 1994

Suzanne Séguin-Goertz

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-Claude Cloutier

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-Québec cooperant.

Car accident in Nicaragua, 1991

Rebecca Reiss

CUSO cooperant based in Mozambique.

1991

Patricia Moro

Oxfam-Québec cooperant.

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-ordinator, SALVAIDE.

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-Bheri Integrated Rural Development Project (K-BIRD)

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-operative Federation

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-operatives in Lesotho.

Became ill in Lesotho, returned to Canada and died; mid-1960s.