Roger Fowler has been fighting for 26 years for compensation for the cancer he says was caused by the many years he worked amid asbestos and chemicals at the General Electric plant in Peterborough.His hopes were raised earlier this year when the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board promised to take another look at some 250 previously rejected cases.Then, last Friday, Fowler received a call from the WSIB and was told that, yet again, his case wouldn’t be re-examined — because it has been denied in the past.“I was so upset I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat,” said the 71-year-old, bursting into tears several times while he spoke, adding he immediately reached out to his MPP but hasn’t heard back.“I don’t know where I’m at or what’s going on.”“It’s hell” for the hundreds of workers who believe they developed cancer and other illnesses from working at the plant, and whose claims for compensation were dismissed by the WSIB — often despite strong medical evidence — and who are left waiting for reconsideration of their cases, he added.Another 70-plus new cases are now also in limbo.Fowler, who has had a number of surgeries and now suffers from recurring hernias, was among a small group who came to Queen’s Park on Wednesday to urge the government to take action.The labour ministry had promised $2 million in funding for a special, locally based team to help and support workers to build their claims, which they were later told was going to be cut to $1 million. In any event, the money still hasn’t materialized. “We are here to demand the government quit breaking its promises,” said NDP MPP Cindy Forster (Welland), her party’s labour critic. “It has made a number of promises to this group of workers, their families and their widows this year. Since March, they have been promised that cases were going to be reviewed and that there was going ...
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