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Loading...Canada’s Deadly Export Gets More Funding
As construction workers in protective gear work to pull all the asbestos out of the walls of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Quebec’s government has decided to grant the Jeffrey asbestos mine $58 million so that the country can continue exporting the deadly product.
The health issues associated with asbestos are caused when the fibers are inhaled. Asbestos has been linked to lung diseases (asbestosis and mesothelioma) and lung cancer. The sale and use of products containing asbestos is tightly controlled in Canada by the Hazardous Products Act and mining and emissions are controlled by the Environmental Protection Act.
The World Health Organization estimates that 107,000 people die from asbestos exposure each year (one in three occupational cancer deaths).
Because of these hazards, the asbestos industry in Quebec was slowly dying, until the government decided this week to give it a boost so that the Jeffrey mine can continue production for the export market. Most of Canada’s production goes to India, where the protection laws are not as stringent as they are here.
Canadian officials actually intervened and stopped the UN from adding chrysotile asbestos to the Rotterdam Convention as a hazardous chemical. The Harper government believes that the substance is safe “when used properly.”
Reports say the investment from the Quebec government will help renovate the facilities and keep the mine open for 20 more years.
How many people will die between now and then?
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Photo Credit: Asbestos Testing
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Steven C, science is not another form of religion. It is well-documented, vigorously debated, mathematically…
Thank you for the article
interesting.
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+ add your ownThanks for the news, Michael!
Good news! The Harper Regime has decided to no longer support or encourage the mining and export of asbestos. However, let’s not sprain our arms in our efforts to pat Stephen Harper on the back over this policy reversal.
Up until recently, the Prime Minister had been adamant that he would not allow a Canadian industry, i.e. asbestos mining, to be “discriminated against in a market where sale is permitted.” In other words, health concerns would remain secondary to matters of business.
I suspect that this change of heart has more to do with the recent election of the Parti Québecois and Pauline Marois’ plans to scrap a $58 million loan to revive the dying asbestos industry, than with a sudden moral epiphany regarding the protection of people’s health.
Although I usually loathe the Parti Québecois and its xenophobic language policies, it deserves much of the credit for what I hope is the final nail in the coffin of an industry which has been the cause of much human misery.
Canada's Harper from hell. Stop him before he attacks the world with his terrorism.
This is just appalling that our government is going to export this toxic asbestos, and also Quebec funding 58 million, and this mine will operate 20 more years. We as a country are becoming a joke!!
So, what is asbestos used for in India? Probably for products that we import, because there are many uses for asbestos; look it up on Wikipedia. Obviously, this is just one of many substances that need to have safety regulations surrounding it. Don't fall for the conservative line "We had to produce these products overseas because safety regulations cripple our industry." Politics and profit should bow to science and human safety, Always. Investigate these cases farther, and you'll usually find that a mere 100% profit ratio is not enough, the CEOs destroy jobs and risk lives so they can "earn" salaries of over a million per year.
They should have lawsuits coming at them then they'll soon stop! They know what a cruel disease it causes and they continue! Money always talks, doesn't it!
Canada continues on its downward spiral to the bottom of the septic tank and gene pool.
Asbestos can be dangerous. So can fire.
Fibers thin enough for fire-proof clothing, if damaged, are small enough to enter the lungs. To be strong and fireproof, the compound must be stable and structurally strong. That means any replacement for asbestos for firefighters' clothes, I think, would have exactly the same problems.
Sadly, I thought we had come so far, just to be slapped in the face with this insanity....
Disgraceful. We've got to get rid of that dicktator.
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