A Brief Foreword by Doug Draper
Ontario’s Liberal government may believe that a public apology and that directing those once exposed to extraordinarily high levels of an Agent Orange-related chemical to file any claims they may have for health impacts to the province’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) may be enough.
NDP Ontario House Leader Gilles Bisson insists promised must accept more liability for former hydro workers exposed to Agent Orange.
However, and in the wake of the release this June 13th of a government-sponsored report concluding that hundreds of former Ontario Hydro workers, including workers in the greater Niagara region, were exposed to levels of this chemical hundreds of times above concentrations that would be considered safe, critics say the province is attempting to lessen liability here rather than open a door for compensation to those exposed and their families.
Ontario Hydro workers and who knows how many others in the vicinity of sprawying operationers were exposed to this chemical – known technically as 2,4,5-T which produces a byproduct toxin called dioxin – from the 1940 through to the late 1970s, when it was used as a vegetation defoliant around hydro lines before it was banned from further use in 1980.
You can learn more about the province’s June 13 report on the use of this chemical by clicking on a Niagara At Large post at https://niagaraatlarge.com/2013/06/14/former-ontario-hydro-workers-were-exposed-to-unsafe-doses-of-one-of-the-worlds-most-lethal-chemicals/ . This post includes links to the report itself and its highlights.
Now we are posting release from the Ontario NDP and its house leader, Gilles Bisson, slamming the province’s Liberal government for, in his party’s view, attempting to reduce any liability the province has in this matter.
NDP: Agent Orange Report all about limiting liability for government
QUEEN’S PARK – Two years after its commission, the report on Agent Orange exposure in Ontario was finally released today. NDP House Leader Gilles Bisson says the report is a disappointment to affected workers and concerned Ontarians.
“This report is all about limiting liability for government,” said Bisson, MPP for Timmins-James Bay. “The report acknowledges that exposures were much higher than the safe amount but it also puts the onus of proof on the victims by directing them to WSIB and treating them as individual cases.”
According to the report, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Transportation and Ontario Hydro workers were often exposed to levels of Agent Orange 600 to 700 times greater than recommended safe levels. The government has asked for more time to review the report, indicating that it intended to deal with claims through WSIB. It encouraged individuals who thought they might be affected to seek the help of their family doctors and WSIB.
“What about workers that have passed away as a result of cancers knows to be related to Agent Orange?” asked Bisson. “Instead of talking about helping out the victims and their families, the government is skirting responsibility by asking them to prove their sickness. This report uses the same tactics that were used against gold miners and their widows when fighting for compensation against lung cancer. It is also very concerning that the report, by design, underplays the risk of people exposed who lived in proximity to the treated areas.”
Bisson is concerned that the timing of the report may be meant to avoid attention.
“Ontarians have waited for two years for this report; it is insulting that this report was introduced after the House has broken for the summer,” said Bisson. “To the workers, and concerned Ontarians, this looks like an attempt to avoid public scrutiny.”
Niagara At Large will return fully this coming Tuesday, June 18.
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