The last two asbestos mines in Quebec have finally shut down after more than a century of operation. Other asbestos
mines in BC, Ontario, Newfoundland and the Yukon closed down years ago.
Finally, Canada, which, for the past century, was a leading world producer, exporter and promoter of asbestos, is no longer in the
asbestos business.
But much remains to be done. While the asbestos mines have
shut down for economic reasons, the Canadian government continues to support
asbestos use, continues to fail to protect Canadians from asbestos harm and
continues to fail to provide assistance and support to asbestos victims and
their families.
Shockingly, the Canadian government continues to deny the
science on asbestos and, instead, supports the discredited propaganda of the
asbestos industry, which claims, against all the evidence, that asbestos can be
safely used.
The Harper government opposes the recommendation of the World
Health Organization that all use of asbestos should stop. And the government
has rejected requests from the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian
Cancer Society, the Canadian Public Health Association and many other health,
labour and public interest organisations that the Canadian government take
action to stop the use of asbestos in Canada and to protect Canadians from
asbestos harm.
Over 50 countries have banned asbestos, including all the
countries of the European Union. Because Canada has not banned asbestos,
products are allowed to be imported into Canada that contain asbestos. Millions
of dollars’ worth of asbestos-containing car brakes, for example, are imported
into Canada each year. Over past decades, many auto mechanics have died from having
been exposed to asbestos when grinding and repairing brakes. This will continue
to happen, as long as Canada does not ban asbestos.
The Canadian government needs to show leadership on the
threat to the health of Canadians posed by asbestos that was placed in
thousands of homes and buildings decades ago. Construction workers, carpenters
and electricians are especially at risk when they renovate or demolish old
buildings.
Many people cannot afford to hire trained professionals to
do renovation work on their homes and so they do the work themselves. They
usually lack protective equipment and training regarding asbestos and are thus
at risk of being exposed to asbestos fibres, as they are unlikely to even
recognize it in the walls, ceilings and floors they are cutting into.
While the Canadian government is failing to protect
Canadians from asbestos harm, it is spending millions of taxpayers’ dollars on
removing asbestos from the Parliament Buildings and from the Prime Minister’s
residence. Apparently, the government believes that members of Parliament and
the Prime Minister should be protected from asbestos harm.
Many Canadians think, wrongly, that asbestos is a problem of
the past. Other countries have national programs to inform and educate the
public about the continuing dangers of asbestos. But not Canada. This, in spite
of the fact that, every day, more Canadians fall victim to an asbestos-related
disease.
When Canadian workers are repeatedly exposed to asbestos because of wanton negligence on the part
of their employers, the Canadian government does not lay charges of criminal
negligence against the employers, even though the Criminal Code has a provision
allowing for such charges to be laid. Thus there are no serious repercussions.
The employer may have to pay a fine under occupational health regulations, but,
when an employer repeatedly pays the fine and continues to expose workers to
asbestos harm, clearly the fine is not a sufficient deterrent.
Because the last asbestos mines have been closed
down,Canadians can be glad that we are no longer exporting asbestos to harm
people overseas.
The Canadian government should, however, set up reparation
funds in those countries to which, to our financial profit, we exported huge
amounts of asbestos for decades. These funds would help pay for health care and
compensation to all those whose lives will be harmed and help pay for removing
asbestos from schools, homes and buildings overseas once those buildings begin
to deteriorate and threaten to release asbestos fibres into the air.
As an immediate priority, the Canadian government should
take action to protect Canadians from further asbestos harm by banning
asbestos, by setting up an asbestos registry and initiating a national program
to inform Canadians of the ongoing threat posed by asbestos already placed in
so many buildings.
Furthermore, the Canadian government should take
responsibility for the asbestos the government itself placed in homes on First
Nations reserves and in homes on military bases. The government has washed its
hands of this problem and the deaths it has caused.
It is time for this callous and irresponsible conduct to
stop.
Kathleen Ruff is founder of the human rights website
RightOnCanada.ca and author of Exporting Harm: How Canada markets asbestos to thedeveloping world
