A brand new monument was unveiled at Saskatoon City Hall on Saturday, to honour people in Saskatchewan who have been killed by impaired drivers.
The monument has the names of 45 Saskatchewan residents who were killed by impaired drivers on it, including Marilou Houghey’s son J.P. The 17-year-old lost his life in a collision five years ago, driving on his way to track practice.
“He’s our only child and they have taken it away from us, they will be out of jail but were going to be serving our life sentence living without him for the rest of our life,” said Houghey.
The monument serves as a reminder to Saskatchewan residents of the pain impaired driving causes, and makes sure the memory of the people that have lost their lives can live on.
“A lot of victim families tell us that the one thing they don’t want is their loved one to be forgotten,” said Andrew Murrie, the CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “Having their name on the monument makes sure they won’t be forgotten and the family will have a place to come to remember their loved one.”
Although the loss of her son is still with her, Houghey said she has turned that pain into strength.
“If we can save one life, to go through what we went through; living every day without your son or with your loved one, then maybe we can help someone,” said Hough. “It means a lot because maybe we can educate the public because maybe they don’t want their names engraved in there.”
Saskatchewan joins Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and New Brunswick as the fifth province to get an impaired driving monument.
With files from CTV’s Alessandra Carneiro
