Northern MPP wants Ontario government to apologize to miners
Sudbury MPP Jamie West will bring forward a motion on Thursday calling for an official apology from the Government of Ontario to the 25,000 miners who were forced to breathe in harmful aluminum dust between 1943 and 1980.
McIntyre powder was supposed to prevent disease but instead is linked to high rates of Parkinson's disease among those forced to inhale it before their shifts underground.
"This isn’t about offering money," West said.
"This is about recognizing what was done shouldn’t have happened to them and that it was wrong. Because many of those remaining miners are elderly and most remaining miners are health compromised, it remains incredibly urgent and important that we hear this apology as soon as possible."
West said the government of the day sanctioned the use of McIntyre Powder, despite expert evidence that recommended against its use.
The move comes after the Ministry of Labour announced a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease linked to dust will be formally recognized as an occupational disease under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
"You had no choice but to breathe it in," said Bill Ferguson, a miner affected by McIntyre powder.
"I mean, you were right in the middle of this black cloud and you had to breathe it in and they thought they were doing us some good. I breathed it in for approximately 20 years."
The motion will be read during Question Period at Queen's Park on Thursday and the hope is that the apology can be given at that time. West said it's fitting that it would fall on the International Day of Mourning, a day to remember workers who died, were injured or became sick from their job.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.