A motion for an official apology from the Ontario Legislative Assembly to former Ontario miners who were forced to inhale an aluminum and aluminum oxide powder linked to the development of Parkinson’s disease was denied on Thursday, as the House asked for more time to “properly honour” the victims and their family members.
In between 1943 to 1979, many Ontario miners were required to inhale the McIntyre Powder as a preventive step against silicotic lung disease. In February, Ontario officially recognized the link between the powder and the brain disorder and amended its Workplace Safety and Insurance Act to compensate workers impacted after being exposed to the powder.
On Thursday, Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas proposed a motion to seek the unanimous consent of the House to issue statements of apology to Onatrio’s mine workers who inhaled the powder and their family members.
Government House leader Paul Calandra, however, denied the motion, saying that he was only made aware of the motion the day before. “The families do deserve an apology, absolutely, but we can’t do it in a less than twenty-four hours,” said Calandra.
“I will need more time to do it so that we can properly honour the families of the victims… I will not support this motion today but they have my word… When this House does resume in the next parliament we will honour the families appropriately and we will do it together,” he added.
Activist Janice Martell who founded the McIntyre powder project in 2015 and has been spreading awareness about the health issues it caused miners, told The Northern Miner that a delay was “hard to take” and that it would mean more miners who were exposed to the powder might die before hearing the apology.
“The official acknowledgement is just very important in the healing process. Fifty-three of the former miners on my volunteer registry have died in the last seven years, which includes my father,” she said. Martell, however, appreciated that the issue was acknowledged in the House and the promise to deliver an apology at some point.
WSIB study
In response to concerns about McIntyre powder, the WSIB engaged the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) in 2017 to examine the link between the powder and adverse health conditions.
In March 2020, the WSIB published a report that stated it had found a “statistically significant increased risk of Parkinson’s disease in miners exposed to McIntyre powder.”
This study included records of 36,826 Ontario miners that were collected from existing data. To be eligible for the study, the miners needed to be alive and living in Ontario as of January 1992 and their records needed to include sufficient information for linkage and analysis.
Of the 36,826 miners studied, 9,548 or 25.9% were exposed to the powder, based on self-reports, the study found. Of the 9,548, 364 were diagnosed with Parkinsonism (any condition that causes a combination of the movement abnormalities seen in Parkinson’s disease), 334 were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, 251 were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and 20 were diagnosed with motor neuron disease.
The study also found that 13,828 workers were also exposed to the powder, based on employment, mine and job type records. Exposed miners had a 34% greater incidence rate of Parkinson’s disease and a 19% greater rate of Parkinsonism compared to miners who were never exposed.
Shame on the Government for needing time. They have known for many years that they created this problem, and not just Parkinsons like diseases but many other problems. I’ve known for at least 25 years this was an issue, but the government “just found out” Shame…