Several rows of reserved empty chairs served as stark reminders on Friday that there are no more survivors of the 1917 Halifax Explosion, yet a couple of hundred people still gathered at the Fort Needham Memorial Park to honour the memories of those who died that fateful day as well as the sacrifices and courage of those who carried on in the days and weeks that followed.
Lindell Smith, the city councillor for the area, served as master of ceremonies. When he looked out on the crowd of residents of all ages, he drew attention to the chairs, each bearing a carefully folded green blanket on the seat.
"Take a moment to look at these empty chairs in the front," Smith said before a number of digitaries began the traditional laying of wreaths on the steps to the memorial.
"As we know, from our knowledge, there are no survivors left. Those empty chairs, in my eyes, and I hope you see it the same way, recognizes that those seats that used to be filled with survivors no longer happens. So it's even more important that we (gather) here today and acknowledge those who lost their lives, and (those who) survived the Halifax Explosion."
Trevor Sanipass performed a smudging ceremony on behalf of the Mi'kmaw community to open the service, followed by prepared remarks from Smith, city poet laureate Afua Cooper, and Halifax deputy mayor Lisa Blackburn.
On Dec. 6, 1917, the munitions ship Mont-Blanc caught fire and exploded in Halifax Harbour after colliding with the Norwegian vessel Imo, a ship carrying war relief supplies. The blast flattened large areas in the northern section of Halifax, Dartmouth and the Mi'kmaw community in Tufts Cove, killed nearly 2,000 people and left another 9,000 injured. Fires raged and a snowstorm followed the next day. Relief trains from Boston and Montreal brought urgently needed medical supplies and aid.
International aid followed with funds from numerous nations coming in to support relief efforts and the Halifax Relief Commission operated from 1918 all the way through 1976, managing compensation claims, pensions and reconstruction.
That work was not without controversy, as African Nova Scotians found the commission denied much of their claims, Cooper pointed out. After Friday's ceremony she expressed the importance of remembering the impact of the Explosion and its aftermath on minority communities.
"It's tremendously important because many members of the black community, when they applied for the relief commission, many of them were denied (by) the commission, many of them were given a pitiful sum of whatever help they could have gotten, so the racial segregation, the racism, again reared its ugly head in a time of tragedy, and that was unfortunate," the professor in Dalhousie University's department of sociology and social anthropology said.
"And today — meaning in this time — the scholars have revealed that and are questioning that and are saying this city of Halifax needs to give restitution to the survivors, in some way, shape, or form, of these black individuals who were denied compensation, who lost their homes, who lost family members, who lost their means of livelihood, who lost limbs and so on."
That said, she also stressed the importance of marking the anniversary of the tragedy for all.
"It's wonderful that even 102 years later, we're still remembering the event, we're remembering the victims, we're remembering the survivors, we're remembering the helpers, the people who rallied from near and far to come and help the city of Halifax and neighbouring communities. So my heart is just full. I think it's fantastic that we do this every year."
Marilyn Davidson Elliott, spokeswoman for the families of the original survivors, was one of those who laid a wreath, but she had been hoping for a chance to speak. She was told in advance that the agenda was full. She still feels it's important to make sure their voices don't fade away.
"If this service is not about the families, then what is it about?" she asked before the ceremony began.
"Now all the survivors are gone, so we are the ones who are left to tell the stories. We're the storytellers, the torch has been passed to us, and we don't want that to be forgotten (or) overlooked."
She's still hopeful that she or some other representative of the survivors' families will be able to say some words at future events.
