A Walk to Remember Victims of Asbestos 2012

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 24, 2012) - A Walk to Remember Victims of Asbestos 2012 -

WHY: Four years ago sisters Leah Nielsen and Stacy Cattran watched their electrician father die an agonizing death from mesothelioma, a terminal lung cancer caused only by asbestos due to his exposure decades earlier. They learned that as early as the 1880s asbestos was found to be dangerous and in the 1930s asbestos industry officials in Canada knew the deadly consequences of their product. Thousands of people would still be alive today if an organized campaign of misinformation, junk science, and cover-ups had not been allowed to convince Canadians that asbestos was safe. We call for a public inquiry into the tens of thousands of Canadian asbestos deaths, many of which have not even been properly tracked. Asbestos is Canada's #1 occupational killer and these deaths are completely preventable. Future generations will not have to suffer if asbestos is removed and banned. Instead legal use of asbestos continues in cement and is even legal in children's toys, deserted open pit asbestos mines have teens driving ATVs through them kicking up asbestos fibres, and thousands of tons of asbestos are shipped to the developing world where workers are not warned of its deadly nature. In Italy, asbestos magnates were recently sentenced to 16 years in prison and ordered to pay millions of dollars in fines. In Canada, asbestos magnates are given millions of dollars in funding by the government.

WHAT: On September 29^th, please join Leah Nielsen and Stacy Cattran in Sarnia to honour loved ones lost to asbestos and demand an end to Canadian asbestos production, a ban on asbestos use, and justice for those who have died.

WHO: Everyone welcome; no registration required. Those who have lost a loved one to asbestos, or have a loved one currently fighting asbestos related disease, are asked to bring a copy of a picture of the victim with name and age that can be pinned to a memorial.

WHEN: Saturday, September 29^th, 2012, at 11 am

WHERE: Dow People Place, Centennial Park, Sarnia, Ontario. Following twenty-five minutes of speeches, we will walk along Front Street to the flags at London Road, curve back along the waterfront, and end at the Victims of Chemical Valley Memorial.

WEBSITE: http://asbestos.cattran.ca.