Agent Orange calls flood hotlines

Calls have flooded provincial hotlines in the wake of recent revelations that Agent Orange was used in Ontario for more than three decades.

About 292 calls have come in to the government's Agent Orange information line, while another 354 calls have been logged by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, said Greg MacNeil, spokesman for Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffrey.

Most of the calls received by the Ministry of Natural Resources were former works: 135 from MNR, 33 from other ministries or agencies and 23 from private companies, he said. Some callers didn't provide information about where they worked and others may have been members of the public.

The hotlines were set up after the government confirmed about two weeks ago that the province used a chemical mixture that's been linked to certain types of cancer.

New Democrat Gilles Bisson, who represents the northern riding of Timmins-James Bay, said his office has also been flooded with calls and emails from people who are worried that they or their family members were exposed to Agent Orange.

'Bigger than people realize'

"I think this is a lot bigger than people realize," he said. "From what I'm seeing from the emails and calls that I'm getting, this thing is a lot more serious than people realize as far as the health effects." Last week, Jeffrey said it was clear that Agent Orange was "very widely used" in Ontario and may have been used in other provinces and territories.

Ontario used a mixture of two chemicals — 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T — during the 1950s, ‘60s and '70s to control growth along provincial highways and transmission lines and on vast tracts of Crown land.

The combination of those two herbicides in equal parts comprised Agent Orange — the most widely used defoliant in the Vietnam War.

The chemicals were federally approved at the time, but it is now known that exposure can lead to skin disorders, liver problems and certain cancers.

Jeffrey said a dioxin-laced component of Agent Orange —2,4,5-T — wasn't banned until 1985, which means it was likely used by many groups, from private companies to municipalities and farmers.

It may also have been used along railways. A former CN Rail worker said last week that he and other workers applied Agent Orange along train tracks in the 1970s. Dave Collins, who has terminal cancer, told the CBC that the workers were never warned of the dangers.

In recent weeks, other former provincial workers have come forward, saying they were exposed to the chemicals and have suffered health problems as a result.

That prompted the government to launch an internal investigation into its use of Agent Orange and announce plans for an independent panel to examine the issue.

The person who will lead the panel will likely be named very soon, Jeffrey said Monday.

"Later this week I think we'll be in a position to name somebody," she said.

"I'm hoping that they'll be able to do as much outreach as possible and collecting as much information at that point. We're

still working on the terms of reference right now."