A Canadian Family

Canadian environmentalist and social justice activist Kathleen Ruff  is the author of  Exporting Harm: How Canada Markets Asbestos to the Developing World. She contacted me after she happened to come across my post  in which I alluded to the controversy around the continued mining and export of asbestos, and she was kind enough to provide us with some valuable links for further reading on this topic. Here’s what Kathleen Ruff  had to say:

”The CBC recently broadcast a documentary (Canada’s Ugly Secret) showing the appalling conditions for workers in India handling the asbestos we export. Here is the link to watch it: http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/healtheducation/canadas_ugly_secret.html  (Note from Evelyn: Video Livestreaming is temporarily down at CBC)

The Canadian government tells developing countries that asbestos can be safely used, which is completely untrue. The Quebec & Canadian governments are also failing to protect Canadian workers from asbestos. It is the biggest killer of Canadian workers, but the Quebec and the federal government allow workers to be exposed to ten times higher amounts of asbestos than does the U.S., the European Union and the rest of the developed world. This is a public health scandal and Canadian workers and their families will pay a heavy price for this for years to come.

The NDP and the Liberals have both called for asbestos to be banned. The last national political leader supporting asbestos is P.M. Harper. You can go to the following website and click and send him a letter to do the right thing and ban asbestos – rightoncanada.ca.

”Fifteen health leaders in Quebec have called on the government to stop the mining and export of asbestos, as the World Health Organization, the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Medical Association have asked and to provide transition assistance to the remaining 340 asbestos miners. See article:  Quebec’s asbestos consensus crumbles – thestar.com

To read Kathleen Ruff’s report on Canada’s asbestos history, go to  Exporting Harm  for the English version or check out the French version  Quand le Canada exporte le mal.

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Asbestos, Quebec