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But the letter Michael Gravelle penned in 2002 to the Ministry of Labour on behalf of gold miners with silicosis, a potentially life-threatening lung disease, has now come back to haunt him in the worst way. Gravelle, who is now Ontario‘s minister of mines, looked seriously flummoxed on a recent CBC television program when cornered about the issue of unresolved silicosis claims at the province‘s Workplace Safety Insurance Board. Not that Gravelle didn‘t know the file. In the detailed and passionate letter he wrote to former Tory Labour Minister Bradley Clark seven years ago, Gravelle warned of an outbreak of silicosis cases and pleaded with Clark to call a public inquiry into the disease. “Please, Minister, call a public inquiry into the silicosis epidemic in the Hemlo gold mines and show your commitment to doing the right thing for the workers of Ontario,” Gravelle (L-Thunder Bay-Superior North) said in the letter. That, apparently, was then; this is now. In an interview Friday, Gravelle said he no longer supports a silicosis inquiry because the ministry later pledged to take “action” on strategies to reduce miners‘ exposure to silica dust. “The government did respond in 2003 to the concerns I raised,” said Gravelle, who is currently being pounded by some of the very same constituents he wrote about. He said he called the situation an epidemic in 2002 “because, at that time, I was concerned there was no action being taken, and wanted the issue to be taken seriously.” During the time that Gravelle was going to bat for gold miners like Marathon‘s Mike Clancy, he so effectively got under the industry‘s skin that one frustrated mine manager accused him of “making public mischief.” The WSIB has confirmed there have been seven allowed silicosis compensation claims in the Hemlo camp near Marathon. Silicosis has been recognized as an occupational disease in Ontario for more than 80 years. WSIB data suggests the disease is on the wane, since there have been no allowed claims, province-wide, since 2005. That‘s cold comfort for people like Clancy, who was medically diagnosed with silicosis in 1999 at age 45. Nearly 10 years later, he still hasn‘t been able to get a claim approved. “I‘ve never smoked, but my claim was denied,” said Clancy. “They said there wasn‘t enough evidence to support it.” Says WSIB: “While the number of silicosis claims in the gold mining industry has dropped, continued diligence is needed to ensure that no workers develop the disease in the future.” In 2002, Gravelle said: “We need to get to the bottom of this tragedy (and) I have come to the conclusion that a public inquiry may well be the only way we will ever understand what is happening to the people who are or may be affected.” NDP Leader Howard Hampton agrees, saying an inquiry would not be a waste of time because it would have a specific focus: the province‘s four main gold-mining camps – Hemlo, Red Lake, Timmins and Kirkland Lake. But Hampton said he doesn‘t expect an inquiry to take place. The government “would not want former miners, or their widows, coming forward with this awful evidence, especially when there has already been so much research into this disease, ” Hampton (Kenora-Rainy River) said Friday. Even as mines minister, said Hampton, Gravelle wouldn‘t be able to bring about an inquiry, even if he personally wanted to see it happen. “This is a government that is very centralized in the premier‘s office, worse than what it was with Mike Harris,” said Hampton. Ministers “are told to shut up and tow the line.” Meanwhile, Clancy, who was laid off from his mining job last year, said he will continue to pursue his WSIB claim. He said he fears for underground workers toiling during a recession, when a company‘s focus is often on cutting costs and not necessarily on the health of its workforce. “The way the companies look at it, every minute you spend watering down (an underground drift) is a minute you‘re not putting rocks in a box.” Clancy said that when he talks on the phone, people say they hear him wheezing. “When I die, I know they‘re going to find silica in my lungs,” he said. Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 7:48 am |