Apr 21, 2016· 1870s: Quebec becomes the first province to mine asbestos. 1920s: The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company creates the Department of Industrial Hygiene at McGill University. Asbestos is believed to be making workers ill and causing a "dust disease" of the lungs. February 14, 1949: Quebec asbestos miners from the Asbestos and Thetford mines embark on a strike to fight to improve …