There were fiery speeches and tears as hundreds gathered to mark National Day of Mourning at Laurentian University this morning in an event organized by the Sudbury and District Labour Council.
It is one of two Day of Mourning ceremonies held in Greater Sudbury. The second being held at the United Steelworkers Hall. Sudbury.com will bring you coverage of that ceremony later on today.
“The knowledge at that time was so blatant, and the oppression was so great on workers that, in many cases, it's murder,” said Leo Gerard speaking to the crowd, referring to the use of so-called McIntyre Powder.
Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers, was referring to a now-debunked practice of exposing workers in primarily gold and uranium mines to McIntyre Powder, an aluminum dust product, ostensibly to protect them against silicosis, a respiratory disease common to miners working underground.
Mine workers from the early 1940s to 1980 were made to inhale McIntyre Powder at the beginning of their shifts. It was believed it would protect their lungs from the ill effects of silica dust prevalent in the underground mining environment.
Gerard was following Janice Martell, the founder of the McIntyre Powder Project that aims to document workers affected by the aluminum dust treatment — which is possibly linked to higher instances of ALS and Parkinson's disease in those exposed to it — and to lobby for legislative changes to improve workplace safety and compensation for the victims.
Martell's father, Jim Hobbs, was one of many hardrock miners in Northern Ontario required to inhale the powder. In 2001, Hobbs was diagnosed with Parkinson's and is currently in very poor health.
“This is not a United Steelworkers issue, this is not a Mine Mill issue, this is not a labour rights movement issue,” said an emotional Martell during her address to a nearly-full Fraser Auditorium. “This is a human rights issue. All human beings have a stake in this.”
National Day of Mourning is marked each year on April 28 to remember workers who have been killed, injured or suffered illness as a result of work-related injuries.
In Greater Sudbury, two workers have been killed on the job already in 2017. Rhéal Dionne, 39, died at Rainbow Concrete on Feb. 15 when an archway collapsed and crushed the cab of the dump truck he was driving.
Then on April 6, 59-year-old contractor Ron Lepage was killed at Vale's Copper Cliff complex after he was pinned under the tires of a dump truck while disposing waste materials into a tailings pond.
Sudbury and District Labour Council president Jamie West, who recently announced a bid to become the Sudbury NDP candidate in the 2018 provincial election, chaired this morning's event.
“I keep thinking about 1,000 workers,” West said during his impassioned speech. “I've been coming to this event for 15 years and, every year across Canada, we kill 1,000 workers.
“We start the Day of Mourning each year with a moment of silence and it occurs to me that I think that we need fewer moments of silence and we need more moments of outrage, more moments of caring, more moments of courage.”
Mayor Brian Bigger was on hand to proclaim National Day of Mourning in Sudbury.
“I want to thank the members of the audience to commemorate the lives of those who have been killed, injured or suffered illnesses from workplace incidences and for standing in unity for a safer tomorrow for all workers,” Bigger said.
Nickel Belt MPP Frances Gélinas spoke about the need to educate students of all issues on workplace safety.
“Soon, students will be heading out for summer jobs,” she said. “For many of them, it will be their first job ever. I sure hope that today's lowering of the flag will become a teaching opportunity for all of our schools, so that every child attending Ontario schools remember 'safety first'.”
Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré remembered his brother-in-law, who was killed at Stobie Mine in 2006.
“There are difficult moments,” he said. “We have to take the time every day — not just the one day.”
“Today, we join the rest of Canada and countries around the world to honour the lives that have forever been changed by workplace injuries,” said Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre. “Although we continue to make gains, workplace injuries are still way too common. One workplace injury is one too many.”
For Janice Martell, she vowed in front of the elected officials in attendance to carry on her fight to seek justice for those affected by the use of McIntyre Powder.
“I need you to go back and to tell your leaders not to mistake my emotion for weakness,” Martell said, fighting back tears. “I'm stronger than you know and I will see this through.”
