While we’ve yet to discuss it in depth, Canada, like the United States, is one of the few developed countries that has not banned asbestos. However, Canada has a curious approach; asbestos can’t be used in Canada, but the country continues to manufacture and export the product. While Ban Asbestos Now! is focused on outlawing the material in the U.S., recent developments have made Canada’s asbestos debate relevant to our own.
At the center of the debate is chrysotile, one of the many types of asbestos. Canada is the fifth largest exporter of chrysotile in the world, with almost all of these products containing asbestos being sent to developing countries where appropriate safety measures and policies are not in place. Given the health risks associated with asbestos exposure, some advocates have said Canada essentially is “exporting death.”
Even more troubling are the actions taken to support this industry. The “Chrysotile Institute” is a non-profit organization set up by the Canadian government to promote the use of asbestos around the world, and the Quebec government is close to guaranteeing a $58 million loan to re-open an asbestos mine.
These are seemingly all steps in the wrong direction. But while these actions are propping up Canada’s asbestos industry, many powerful – and more importantly, international – groups are stepping in to urge Canada to stop mining and exporting asbestos altogether. Citing the link between asbestos and diseases like lung cancer and mesothelioma, these scientists and health organizations are adding further credibility to the BAN! movement – as well as boosting it on a global scale.
The groups demanding a ban on asbestos mining include the Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Public Health Association, National Specialty Society for Community Medicine, and the Collegium Ramazzini, an independent group of academic experts in environmental and occupational health.
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 90,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases every year. Clearly, the asbestos problem extends beyond borders and needs addressed as such. Hopefully the call for a ban in Canada continues to gain steam and prompts our US government to look at itself as well and join the global community in banning this cancer-causing material.
As a Canadian citizen I am deeply concerned and troubled by the fact that Canada continues to mine and export such a deadly mineral while having banned its use in Canada. To me this is blatantly unethical in every way. I have certainly expressed my opinion to our government bodies involved. As usual these types of decisions to ban an unsafe product are tied up in politics an money. In Canada the provincial governments have mining legislation separate from the federal government,but this is not to say that the federal government has no jurisdication over mining at all. The political situation between the province of Quebec and the federal government of Canada is steeped in a politcal and cultural history of gratuitous payoffs between the two governments. It is quite ironic that the current Minister of Natural Resources is a man born in Thetford Mines Quebec, host to several mines including the Jeffrey Mine – largest asbestos open pit mine in the world. Thank you for this website and the information that it contains. We as the public concerned must keep up the pressure.