Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about the miners in Saint‑Rémi‑d'Amherst and their families.
Bruno Carrière's documentary film 1948, L'affaire silicose — L'histoire d'une injustice shines a light on the tragedy of the first industrial disease in Quebec in the 1930s and 1940s.
It is thanks to the tireless investigative work of Franco-American journalist Burton LeDoux that we know the extent of the ravages caused by silicosis. This disease caused the death of several dozen miners from Saint‑Rémi‑d'Amherst, a township that was nicknamed “the village of widows”.
This powerful and touching documentary chronicles the years when Quebec workers were victims of hazardous working conditions. To get a better idea of the hardship these families endured, I invite everyone to watch 1948, L'affaire silicose — L'histoire d'une injustice, one of the first big scandals in Quebec's social history.