As we gathered yesterday on this unusually warm Saturday in Kamloops—a day that reminds me of 39 years ago when the world held its breath—I want to share these words of remembrance and solidarity.
April 26 marks the Day of Remembrance for the Chornobyl catastrophe. On this day in 1986, an explosion at the fourth reactor of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant became one of the most devastating technological disasters in human history.
This was not just an accident—it was a blow that forever disrupted the lives of entire families, devastated cities and villages, and contaminated the land people called home. Pripyat became a city that never had the chance to say goodbye.
The liquidators were heroes who walked into hell with no guarantee of tomorrow. Children became a generation raised in the shadow of radiation (I am one of them). Memory is what we must preserve.
Today, as we stand with Ukraine near City Hall in Kamloops, we honour not only the tragedy itself, but those who, without hesitation, placed themselves between life and death. Many never received the respect or support they deserved. Yet their courage has forever left a mark—in our memory, in our hearts, in our shared history.
Just as the USSR hid information from the people of Ukraine then, Russia continues to spread disinformation about the war now. But the truth must prevail.
Chornobyl stands as a warning. It is a lesson we have no right to forget.
We remember to prevent repetition. We honour to be worthy of their sacrifice. We speak to preserve the truth.
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