Jean Boulet, Minister of Labor and Social Solidarity of Quebec, announced on Tuesday that Parkinson’s disease caused by pesticides will be included on the list of occupational diseases, as part of the reforms to the Act respecting health and safety of the work in this Canadian province. Boulet underlined that this initiative “will promote better access to the compensation system” and that it is necessary “to reflect the evolution of the world of work, where prevention must play a central role”.
Thus, Quebec will follow in France’s footsteps. In May 2012, a decree entered into force in the European country which included Parkinson’s disease in the group of occupational diseases and established a link between this neurodegenerative disease and the use of pesticides. Changes in Quebec regulations are directly inspired by French. Victims must prove that they have been in contact with these products for at least ten years; the diagnosis of the disease should also not exceed seven years after exposure. Farmers, agronomists, gardeners and other related professions will be able to obtain remuneration from the Commission des normes, de l’énergie, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST for its acronym in French).
Reforms to the Quebec Act respecting occupational health and safety were unanimously approved in October by the Members of the National Assembly, in order to update the regulations in force since 1985. However, Parkinson’s disease was not initially contemplated in this bill. Various organizations have testified before a parliamentary committee asking for the disease and others to be listed. In its intervention, the Union des producteurs agricoles du Québec (UPA) deplored that the reality of agricultural workers was not taken into account in the October reforms, mainly with regard to health problems related to pesticides. . Minister Boulet’s idea was for a scientific committee to analyze this request. However, the opposition pointed out that there are already dozens of studies on the subject, so Boulet made the long-awaited decision.
Romain Rigal is director of Parkinson Quebec, a research, support and information organization on this disease. “We have received the news very favorably. We have been working for two years to get Parkinson’s disease on the list. We are pleased that Minister Boulet has recognized the weight of scientific evidence; also that it has shown itself to be sensitive to the suffering of people affected by their exposure to pesticides and who have had to wage a very long administrative battle, ”explains Rigal over the phone.
UPA represents some 41,000 farmers in the province. However, two-thirds of its members are not registered with the CNESST; a necessary condition for claiming compensation. “The UPA should encourage the CNESST to offer lower prices so that all farmers have access to this advance,” says Rigal. “Minister Boulet has taken a first step with the inclusion of Parkinson’s disease on the list. We hope that this will allow the recognition of other occupational diseases, such as lymphoma and myeloma, due to contact with these toxic products, ”he adds. A request from the UPA to the government of Quebec is the creation of a special fund for victims of pesticides, both for Parkinson’s disease and for other neurodegenerative diseases.
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