Yellowknife (May 03/06) - Top politicians from Yellowknife gathered at the Legislative Assembly Friday to remember 10 Northern workers who lost their lives on the job during 2005.

"One death is too many," said Charles Dent, the minister responsible for the Worker's Compensation Board.

Among the dead were two members of the Yellowknife Fire Department: Cyril Fyfe and Kevin Olson.

The pair were killed battling a blaze at a suburban hardware store in March 2005.

Top brass from the fire department attended the ceremony along with Yellowknife mayor Gord Van Tighem and several city department heads.

City Hall and two top members of the fire unit - chief Mick Beauchamp and deputy chief Darcy Hernblad - are facing WCB charges in connection with the deaths.

April 28 is celebrated nationally as a day to remember fallen workers. The head of the Union of Northern Workers, Todd Parsons, said more than 980 people were killed in the workplace across Canada during 2005 and over one million were injured.

"The numbers are frightening," he said during the ceremony.

Parsons said no one company or industry can be blamed for the 10 deaths which occurred in the NWT and Nunavut. Instead, all corporations and their workers have to focus on safety, he said.