Many Believe Canada’s Asbestos Industry is Shameful
Asbestos-related diseases in Canada are on the rise, says Pat Martin, a member of the Canadian Parliament from Manitoba, who has been leading a campaign to ban asbestos use in Canada as well as its export. Furthermore, Martin continues, Department of National Defense (DND) employees and civilians are being sickened every day due to exposure to the hazardous material in their surroundings, caused by the rampant use of asbestos in military buildings and submarines.
Martin, who points out that more than 40 countries have already banned asbestos, told the Epoch Times that he doesn’t understand why Canada continues to mine and export the material, despite national and international attempts to ban its production and usage.
“Canada should hang its head in shame,” says Martin. “We use tax dollars and foreign missions to host pro-asbestos conferences [in third world countries]. We also undermine the efforts of other countries to ban asbestos.”
Canada is the second largest producer and exporter of asbestos in the world. Figures show that Canada produces 200,000 tons of asbestos per year, 97 percent of which is exported to third world countries, such as India, Thailand and Indonesia. These countries have no regulatory system to monitor the safe use of asbestos, so are easy targets for exporters like Canada, many believe.
“We are exporting it like crazy, while the rest of the world says “no”. This is absolutely morally and ethically reprehensible on the part of Canadian government, to impose this legacy of exporting human misery and disease to these underdeveloped countries where health and safety standards are either poor or non-existing “says Martin.
Asbestos mining, however, has been shut down everywhere in Canada except for Quebec. In that province, where the industry is privately owned, an estimated $97 million per year in revenue is generated by the mines. Quebec also has the country’s highest cancer rate. More than 800 miners still toil in the mines there each day.
Canada also continues to feel the crunch caused by their overuse of the material throughout the past several decades. This summer, more than $1 billion will be spent to remove asbestos from the Parliament buildings in Ottawa.
