Over a dozen new victims to be added to Ontario Impaired Driving Monument in Brampton

A sombre ceremony will see the loved ones of impaired driving victims come to Brampton to add over a dozen names to Ontario’s monument to those killed in alcohol and drug-related crashes.

Christened last year, the MADD Canada Ontario Memorial Monument pays tribute to Ontarians killed in crashes involving alcohol, cannabis and other drugs with over 150 names of innocent victims serving as a reminder of the importance of sober driving.

This weekend another 22 names will be added to the memorial at a candlelight vigil service in Brampton’s Chinguacousy Park, giving families and friends a place to honour their departed loved ones and offer support to one another.

Since 2009, MADD Canada has raised memorial monuments for victims of impaired driving in multiple provinces including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Alberta and Quebec, with similar monuments underway in B.C. and Prince Edward Island.

The monuments serve as reminders of the potentially fatal consequences of getting behind the wheel while impaired, MADD Canada says.

Visually, the Ontario Memorial Monument is an artistic representation of the guardrails on the side of a road – a continuous rail held by wooden slabs, upon which the names of Ontario victims are engraved.

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“The guardrail is a symbol of how we protect and cherish the memories of the victims and support their families,” MADD Canada said in a release.

The ceremony runs on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Chinguacousy Park.