‘These are boots on the ground people’: Sarnia celebrates 120th Labour Day Parade

In a community known for people who put their ‘boots on the ground’ hundreds of people did just that on Labour Day as they walked in the annual parade in Sarnia, Ont.

“This is our 120th year of the parade,” says Nick Dochstader, president of the Sarnia and District Labour Council (SDLC).

“These are the boots on the ground people. These are the folks that were the frontline workers during the pandemic. Most of these folks never stopped working during the pandemic, they kept the lights on they kept the hospitals staffed. They did all the things to make the economy still move forward.”

Dochstader estimates more than 1,500 people and more than 60 entries took part in the annual parade by the waterfront which ended at Centennial Park.

“This is a great day for labour as we are the middle class and we celebrate it,” says Ross Tius, a member of Local 663 plumbers and pipefitters for 56 years.”

The 120th annual Labour Day Parade took place in Sarnia, Ont. on Monday Sept. 5, 2022. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) “In this county, we have over 5,500 tradespeople here that make a living doing safe work in a safety-sensitive location. Our clients on a yearly basis, give us an opportunity to showcase and hand us $600 million worth of work every year. So that is an exercise and an opportunity for us to show our wares.”

Local 663 had nearly 1,000 members walk in the parade, who Tius claims turned a corner of 2.8 million man hours as of July.

Sarnia city councillor Brian White was one of the judges for the parade. A former general labourer he says hard work really built his community.

“Showing solidarity with all of our workers in our community is so important for us because we know that without all of the hard-working folks in our community, then we wouldn't have the wonderful place that we live today,” says White.

“So it's really important for us to get out, especially after the pandemic and see everything's looking a little bit more normal today, and really, truly celebrate the hard-working people of this community.” 

The 120th annual Labour Day Parade took place in Sarnia, Ont. on Monday Sept. 5, 2022. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)