Jim Brophy: A Voice in the Wilderness
For over twenty years, Jim Brophy has been trying to raise awareness of the health risks associated with asbestos in Canada, the world's biggest exporter of white asbestos; with generous government funding and political support for the Canadian asbestos industry, Jim's must have been a very lonely job indeed! During the 1970s and 1980s, Jim researched the appalling effects of occupational exposure to asbestos experienced by workers at Sarnia's Holmes Foundry where unprecedented levels of asbestos were found to be the norm. According to Jim, asbestos "is a serial killer responsible for millions of people prematurely losing their lives.... The unbelievable injustice of people being made ill by the work they do touches me very deeply."
For his work, Jim has been nominated as one of two finalists in the Environmental Health category of the Canadian Environment Awards 2003, a program which celebrates the work of grassroots groups and green campaigners. The winners will be announced on June 2, 2003 at an award reception in Toronto.
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May 3, 2003
