Janice Martell is thrilled to find out the government is recognizing the detrimental effect McIntyre Powder had on miners and those miners and families will now get compensation.
Martell says last week the Ministry of Labour announced that the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease has been recognized as an occupational disease under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
She says the miners were told to inhale the McIntyre Powder, a form of aluminum inhalant to prevent silicosis.
Martel says in 2020, the results of a WSIB-commissioned study, led by researcher Dr. Paul Demers, definitively concluded the link between the inhalation of the powder and the development of Parkinson’s disease.
She stresses the news is just a start and gives miners and families new hope in settling their claims.
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.
