Rose Alper

Breast Cancer Action Montreal is marking 20 years of work to stop breast cancer before it starts. I have been a board member of BCAM for 16 of those 20 years! We have worked tirelessly to ensure that our message about environmental toxins and their links to breast cancer is heard by the public and our government.

I was asked why, at age 90, I still work for this organization? I answered that I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 72; with no family history and having a curious nature, I went looking for answers. That’s when I found Breast Cancer Action Montreal – at that time it was a small group of bright, no-nonsense women inspired by its founder, Sharon Batt. We were all looking for answers.

We learned that toxic chemicals in the environment were a possible cause of breast cancer, a connection that no other Canadian breast cancer organization talked about. We raised the alarm and we continue to do so. Now more voices have joined with us to have these chemicals banned or regulated.

Rose Alper is a child of the depression who did not attend university until well into adulthood when she studied family life education. Rose considers her many, many years of social activism an extension of her education and believes that her learning continues as an active BCAM board member.