Ontario apologizes for forcing miners to breathe in McIntyre Powder

Photo: ASTA Concept/Adobe Stock

Ontario has apologized to mine workers in the province who were exposed to McIntyre Powder.

The apology was delivered in the legislature at 3 p.m. today by Monte McNaughton, the Minister of Labour, Immigration and Skills Development.

“It has been more than 40 years since McInytre Powder has been used in Ontario mines, but for the thousands of miners who were exposed to the powder, it might as well have been yesterday,” he said. “They were told by their employers that this powder would help protect them from lung disease and that they had to inhale it to continue working in the mines.”

Monte McNaughton, Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

The substance, touted as a health and safety tool by the province to protect workers from silicosis, was a harmful aluminum dust. Workers were put into sealed rooms, where the toxic powder was dispersed into the air. It has since been linked to neurological health effects, including Parkinson’s disease, according to the Occupational Cancer Research Centre and Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).

About 25,000 miners were exposed to the powder from its introduction in 1943 until it was phased out in 1979.

McNaughton said survivors have had to deal with the lingering effects of the powder, including lung disease and Parkinson’s. And their families had to watch them suffer, he said.

More than 30 affected people were in attendance for the apology, including six miners who breathed in the dust. He also honoured those who didn’t live to see this day.

Speaks to Hobbs-Martell

He addressed some of his remarks to Janice Hobbs-Martell, the daughter of Elliot Lake miner Jim Hobbs. She founded the McIntyre Powder Project and has been lobbying for an apology.

“I want to be there for my dad,” said Hobbs-Martell in an earlier interview with the Subdury Star. “I want to be there for my mom, I want to be there for my family, and for the mine workers who were exposed; all of my McIntyre Powder Project mine workers and the ones whose names I will never know. I think it’s very important that they hear this while they’re still alive.”

Her dad passed away in 2017, and McNaughton said he would have been proud of his daughter’s fight.

Parkinson’s presumed to be occupational for miners

Earlier this year, the province declared Parkinson’s disease to be an occupational disease that is the result of work-related exposure to McIntyre Powder.

“As a result, miners who were exposed… and have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s are entitled to compensation without having to produce any evidence that their disease is work-related,” he said.

McNaughton acknowledged his words won’t bring loved ones back, or ease the pain and sadness “so many of you have had to endure.”

“This tragedy should not have happened to you,” he said. “It should not have happened to your loved ones. And to each and every one of you, on behalf of the people of Ontario, I am truly sorry.”