Note: Now that Canada has finally buried asbestos industry, inclusion of chrysotile asbestos in Rotterdam Convention's toxic list is likely to happen next month. India will have to take the logical step of banning asbestos after supporting its inclusion at the last meeting of the UN's Rotterdam Convention.
Gopal Krishna
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)
New Delhi
Federal budget finally buries asbestos industry
Ends shameful practice of exporting it overseas
OTTAWA -- If the
asbestos industry in Canada was on life-support, last week's federal budget
finally pulled the plug.
It
was hidden midway through the budget papers, amid the more flashy and noticeable
cuts to the cost of baby clothes and the "largest long-term federal commitment
to Canadian infrastructure in our nation's history."
"Supporting the Economic Transition of Communities
Economically Linked to the Chrysotile Asbestos Industry," said the headline on
page 241.
"Historically, the chrysotile asbestos industry has been
a significant employer in the communities of Thetford Mines and Asbestos in the
province of Quebec," reads the section. "Due to the decline of the industry,
these communities are now exploring ways to diversify their local economies and
create new jobs. Confirming the commitment made by the government in September
2012, Economic Action Plan 2013 proposes to provide $50 million over seven years
to Canada Economic Development for Quebec regions to support economic
diversification efforts in the communities of Thetford Mines and
Asbestos."
The
money was actually first promised last September, announced by Christian
Paradis, the country's industry minister, who also represents Thetford Mines and
Asbestos in Parliament and was born in Thetford Mines.
The
budget delivered on the promise.
For years, Liberal and
Conservative governments held their fingers in their ears as the evidence
mounted about the dangers of asbestos.
Medical experts and workplace-safety advocates called for
Canada to stop mining the substance, whose fibres can lead to deadly lung
disease and cancer if inhaled.
Yet
Canada kept saying it was safe.
"Canada stands by its position that the policy of
controlled use is well-founded because it has a sound scientific basis and is a
responsible approach," said a spokesman for then-foreign affairs minister
Lawrence Cannon in 2009.
Canada wouldn't even
agree to add chrysotile asbestos to an international list of toxic substances.
The list, part of the Rotterdam Convention, wouldn't bar the use or export of
the substances but requires exporting nations to warn importing nations of the
dangers.
So not only were we
still exporting the stuff, we didn't even want to have to warn people it might
kill them.
Canada has barely used
asbestos in our own country for years. We're spending millions to remove
asbestos from the Parliament Buildings. Asbestos found in a home inspection can
send potential buyers running for cover. Canadians know it's dangerous and want
nothing to do with it.
But until recently, we
were still shipping more than 150,000 tonnes of the stuff overseas each year,
mostly to places such as India and Indonesia where workplace-safety regulations
are sparse to non-existent.
Photos and videos of workers covered in asbestos in
plants overseas weren't enough to change the government's mind. An investigation
by the CBC in 2010 documented exactly how Canada's asbestos was being used. It
showed workers using it with no protection, not even minimal face
masks.
But there were a few
hundred workers left in the two mines in Thetford Mines and Asbestos, and no
government seemed willing to put them out of work. What was the health of
thousands of workers in Asia compared to saving the jobs of a few hundred
Canadians, jobs that just happened to be in the riding of the industry
minister?
So Canada kept agreeing
to export it to developing countries and kept giving the Chrysotile Institute
money to promote the product.
So
what suddenly changed?
In
November 2011, the last of the mines stopped operating.
Then, last fall, the
Parti Québécois won the election in Quebec and Premier Pauline Marois pledged to
pull the plug on a proposal by Liberal Premier Jean Charest to loan the asbestos
industry $58 million.
It was the last of the
few lifelines left for the industry.
Without any mines
operating and the promise of reopening off the table, the political need to keep
supporting asbestos was finally outweighed by the political damage of supporting
it.
So
it was that Canada finally said it would stop opposing the addition of
chrysotile asbestos to the Rotterdam Convention.
How
Canada handles that matter will be seen next month during the annual meeting of
the Rotterdam Convention.
Manitoba MP Pat Martin, who worked in asbestos mines in
the Yukon and has some lung damage because of it, has been fighting against the
industry for years.
He
said the government deciding to finally find something else for the two asbestos
towns to do is "the final nail in the coffin."
But
he won't stop his crusade against the industry just yet. "I won't stand down
until they ban asbestos in all its forms," said Martin.
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