Canadian Mother Fighting Against Asbestos in Schools

In 2017, renovations to Canadian school Three Oaks Senior High School (TOSH), led to one student, Lydia MacDonald, complaining of severe respiratory problems. Her symptoms included fatigue, nausea, severe headaches amongst others.

As a result, Lydia’s mother, Toby, began making a series of Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection (FOIPP) requests to the Canadian government in order to find out more information about the renovations.

Over an 18-month period, MacDonald continued making FOIPP requests to both the government and school board to understand what had caused her daughter’s breathing problems.

As a result of Toby’s efforts, it was discovered that asbestos had been mishandled in three separate instances during the renovation, including one breach in February 2017 when Lydia had first started having problems. However, at no point during this time were parents or students informed.

In 2018, MacDonald saw a news report about a FOIPP filed in 2017 by the Prince Edward Island Progressive Conservatives, which revealed the fact that “several breaches in protocol with removing lead paint and asbestos ceiling tiles at TOSH” had occurred.

According to the FOIPP, once procedure was broken in late February 2017, subsequent air quality tests found traces of asbestos on the floor in three locations outside the construction zone, including one with asbestos levels 50 times the satisfactory amount.

Following school renovations, the British Columbia government fined TOSH’s school district $75,000.