Asbestos Shows Canada’s Unfortunate Double Standard says Hughes
Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes
Canada missed an opportunity to add chrysotile asbestos to the U.N.’s list of hazardous substances in mid-June adding to our already degraded international reputation which now includes multiple fossil of the year awards and our foot dragging on signing the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Instead of joining the majority of countries and ignoring Health Canada’s advice on the risks of chrysotile asbestos the Conservatives chose to put their heads in the sand and refuse to list it as a controlled substance.
Chrysotile or white asbestos comes from Quebec’s Asbestos and Thetford Mines and is a significant part of that province’s economy . Still, all forms of asbestos are linked to incurable lung cancers in people exposed over a long period of time. According to the World Health Organization, asbestos products are responsible for 100,000 deaths a year.
We have even seen Canada’s white asbestos compared to blood diamonds from Zimbabwe. This is surely not a fair comparison but damaging all the same.
Unlike the violence , slavery and money trail that leads to Robert Mugabe – Zimbabwe’s despot leader, that so obviously taint blood diamonds, asbestos is a silent killer that takes time to claim its victims. It is the way it is used in countries that have lower standards of workplace health and safety leading to so many unwitting victims that gives Canada a black eye as a facilitator.
We cannot pretend we don’t know what our asbestos is contributing to. Wilful ignorance is the best we can suggest, knowing that Health Canada officials told the Conservatives their claim that chrysotile asbestos is safe is wrong as far back as 2006. It is a controlled use substance and the entirety of our production is aimed at overseas, under-regulated markets. In fact, Canada has dumped 750,000 tonnes of asbestos on world markets since ignoring Health Canada’s advice and it remains the world’s leading industrial killer, claiming over 100,000 lives every year.
New Democrats are working with health professionals, trade unions, the Cancer Society and other groups who have signed a joint letter urging Stephen Harper to stop blocking international efforts to control chrysotile asbestos use. We must stop the deadly exports – this is a black eye to our international reputation and the government could have fixed this last month by supporting the addition of chrysotile asbestos to the UN list of hazardous substances.
