On April 18, after years of lobbying, asbestos awareness advocates watched proudly as the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan unanimously passed “Howard’s Law”, a law to create a public registry of asbestos found in buildings owned by the province, health regions and schools. The registry will be available online and at public sites.
Marianne Hladun, Regional Executive Vice-President for the PSAC Prairie Region, was in attendance for the vote, which proved to be an emotional time for friends and family of Howard Willems.
Willems is the former PSAC member who launched the fight more than two years ago, after being diagnosed with a rare asbestos-related cancer. Sadly, Willems never got to see his dream come to fruition, as he succumbed to the disease last November. His family promised to carry on the fight, and didn’t stop until the bill passed.