By Rosalind Russell – Sudbury MPP Jamie West says the Ontario legislature will apologize to miners who were forced to inhale McIntyre Powder as part of their job.
At a news conference last week, West said at the end of November, all MPPS are expected to be in attendance when the apology is extended to a select group of miners, their widows, and their families.
The daughter of a miner who died from Parkinson’s, Janice Hobbs Martell of Elliot Lake, led the fight to have McIntyre Powder recognized as the cause between the disease and McIntyre Powder.
She told reporters that she wants to be there for her dad, all McIntyre Powder Project mine workers and the ones whose names she will never know.
Martell started the McIntyre Powder Project voluntary registry in April of 2015 and over the years, 597 people registered; 276 of those are deceased, some due to the disease.
She believes it is important for family members to be able to go to Queen’s Park to hear the apology since it is an acknowledgement of a work practice that put so many at risk.
Photo: Father Jim Hobbs and his daughter, Janice Martell in happier days. Martel began the battle to have the link recognized in memory of her father, a hard rock miner who died in 2017 from Parkinson’s disease. She will now take in the apology to miners at Queen’s Park later this month. Photo supplied by Janice Martell and used with permission.
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