Rise Memorial Garden Honours Lives Lost in 2021 Kelowna Crane Collapse

A Place of Remembrance, Reflection, and Resilience

Four years to the day five Kelowna men lost their lives in a crane collapse incident, a memorial opened in their honour on Saturday. The Rise Memorial Garden at Knowles Heritage Park is more than just a garden, it's a place where families and loved ones can come together to remember and heal.

• Key features of the memorial include five benches, one for each victim.
• The project came together through community effort, starting with the North Okanagan Labour Council partnering with the City of Kelowna.
• New crane regulations approved by WorkSafeBC came into effect across the province on October 1, 2024.

"We're four years into this tragedy and there's still no accountability or significant workplace safety regulations to ensure this sort of tragedy never happens again," said Helen Zawislak, Brad Zawislak's wife. "Personally, the Rise Memorial Garden is a place to hold forgiveness and to recognize the workplace culture and safety regulations that have failed me."

The new crane regulations approved by WorkSafeBC include increased site inspections and penalties. While progress has been made, much work remains to be done. According to Jennifer Whiteside, B.C.'s Minister of Labour, "there is a shared commitment in this province to strengthening standards and protections for crane safety, and those efforts have yielded some positive steps."

The memorial garden also serves as a reminder of the importance of workplace safety. As Adam LaBonte, superintendent at Mountain Homes Services, said, "behind every tragedy, is a hard truth, and the truth here is that this tragedy could have and should have been prevented... we owe it to these five men to make sure something like this never happens again."

The annual Day of Mourning will also take place at the Rise Memorial Garden. The families are grateful for the support and acknowledge the importance of remembering and learning from tragedies.

The memorial garden is a testament to the community's resilience in the face of loss. It serves as a reminder that even in unimaginable tragedy, there can be hope for healing and change.