McIntyre Powder Project

Danielle Aubin, a Master's of Interdisciplinary Health student at Laurentian University is conducting a research study on underground mine workers who were exposed to McIntyre Powder (aluminum dust).

Danielle is seeking participants on a voluntary basis for her research, which would involve a one-on-one interview. Details are below:

"PARTICIPANTS NEEDED. What is Your Story? Have you been exposed to the McIntyre Powder treatment (aluminum dust) between 1943-1980 for a minimum of 1 year?  If you are interested in sharing your story in an interview with a Laurentian University Master's student, please contact Danielle Aubin at dx_aubin@laurentian.ca OR at 1-800-461-4030, ext. 3972.  This research has been approved by the Laurentian University Research Ethics Board." 

 

My father, Jim Hobbs, had character and he was a character.  He did not express his emotions well, but he felt deeply and you always knew that he would be there when you needed him.  He had no tolerance for bullies, liars, or hypocrites, and no use for the lazy man. He worked hard and lived simply - protective of those he loved at whatever cost was required of him.  My dad gave up his life for us in the mines. This Project bears witness to that life, and to the cost borne by the workers of the McIntyre Powder experiment and their families.

in love and solidarity,  Janice (Hobbs) Martell 

Please join McIntyre Powder Project Founder Janice Martell at Injured Workers Day - June 1, 2017 in Toronto. Schedule of events is below.  Janice will be speaking at the Rally, following the march from Queen's Park to the Ministry of Labour Head Office.  Janice will also be one of the panelists at the 2 p.m. event at OCAD auditorium.

Injured Workers’ Day 2017 Schedule of Events

 

·         May 31^st, Dinner at 7pm, Vigil at 8pm

Overnight Vigil at Queen’s Park

Cultural showcase to celebrate the resilience of injured workers, featuring music, poetry, storytelling, and satire. Led by the Women of Inspiration Injured Worker Group.

 

·         June 1^st 11:30am, Queen’s Park

WORKERS’ COMP IS A RIGHT! INJURED WORKERS’ DAY  RALLY & MARCH

Despite the epidemic of precarious, unsafe, and toxic work, the WSIB is more concerned with its own bottom line than with protecting the well-being of injured workers. We need to come together and demand our right to compensation. Join us on the streets!

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1044072909025603/

 

·         June 1^st, 2:00pm, OCAD Auditorium (100 McCaul St., room 190)

Fighting Back Against Unsafe and Toxic Work

A panel discussion featuring workers who are organizing in different sectors but on similar issues. We aim to open a conversation on how we can connect our organizing efforts and bring together a powerful, worker-led front for safe work and full compensation. Featured speakers include:

o  Janice Martell – Founder of the McIntyre Powder Project

o  Sue James – Retired worker from the Peterborough GE factory

o  Heather Neiser – Healthcare worker and anti-workplace violence activist with OCHU

o  Len Elliott – OPSEU executive member and Health & Safety advocate

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1960098277553292/

Click on the "LINKS" tab on this website for two exciting NEW! postings:  

(1) April 6, 2017 - Fifth Estate update video on the work of the McIntyre Powder Project over the year since the January 29, 2016 Fifth Estate broadcast of "The Miner's Daughter" episode.

(2) April 6, 2017 - CBC News Report: "Ontario health agency finds 'concerning' rate of ALS in miners exposed to McIntyre Powder"

The School of Labour Studies Speaker Series proudly presents:

50 Guinea Pigs, 13 Rabbits, 20,000 Miners: The McIntyre Powder Experiment

With Janice Martell

Thursday, March 23, 2017

2:30-4:30pm

L.R. Wilson Hall 1003

 

Description:

Between 1943 and 1980, at least 20,000 miners were dosed by their employers with McIntyre Powder – respirable aluminum/aluminum oxide dust – on the unproven theory that it would prevent silicosis. Under threat of job loss and in the absence of informed consent, these miners became unwilling lab rats in a government-sanctioned industrial disease experiment.  No other humans have been exposed to aluminum in this form, intensity, duration, or by similar route of administration (an inhalable, airborne suspension).  The impacts on their health remain unknown.

 

Janice Martell established the McIntyre Powder Project to seek answers about the aluminum dust program and its long-term health impacts.  Janice is the daughter of one of the miners of the McIntyre Powder experiment, Jim Hobbs - who suffers from Parkinson’s. In her first speaking engagement open to the general public, Janice will share her research discoveries about the history of the McIntyre Powder experiment, her experiences in challenging the workplace compensation system, and the stories of mining families that were left in the dust.

 

About the Speaker:

Janice Martell graduated in 1988 from Carleton University with a Bachelor’s degree in Law and Psychology. She also holds a Certificate in Addiction Studies from McMaster University.  Janice has spent her career in the helping profession, working in child welfare, social assistance, mental health and addictions services. Janice lives with her husband Don in Elliot Lake, Ontario. She is passionate about her McIntyre Powder Project work, and remains grateful for the kinships being forged with mining families.