The federal government says it will ban all products containing asbestos by 2018. Here's a timeline of the history of asbestos in Canada.

Concerns over the presence of asbestos in the theatre forced the university to close it in February 2012. It was cleared later that month for internal use by faculty and staff.

A $58 million loan issued by the previous Liberal government last summer to support the restart of the Jeffrey asbestos mine will not be reissued if the Liberals regain power, according to newly-chosen Quebec Liberal Party leader Philippe Couillard.

Quebec's government appears to be on the verge of officially turning its back on the asbestos industry, according to comments made by the province's natural resource minister.

Documents obtained by Radio-Canada through access to information requests reveal 180 health care sites in the province contain asbestos, and there could be more. The buildings known to contain the carcinogenic fibre, which was once used as a fire-retardant, include various hospitals, clinics, and long-term care homes.

"This award is a great way of honouring Howard's work," Todd said. "There is one more thing we can do to help save the lives of so many more innocent victims. We can contact our MLAs and tell them that it's important to the people of Saskatchewan that they vote in favour of Bill 604."

Despite some earlier misgivings, the Saskatchewan government has decided to publish a list of buildings containing asbestos. It's something the New Democrat Opposition was pushing for, as was Saskatoon's Howard Willems, who died last week of lung cancer.

A Saskatchewan man who urged the province to make lists available to everyone of public buildings that contain asbestos is dead.

The family of Howard Willems says he died peacefully Thursday after a long battle with mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that comes from inhaling asbestos fibres.

Martine Aubry, the former leader of France’s governing Socialist Party, has been charged with manslaughter in a probe into whether state negligence contributed to thousands of deaths caused by asbestos exposure.

Le dossier de l'amiante débouchera-t-il en France sur l'inculpation de plusieurs hauts responsables de l'État comme l'a fait le scandale du sang contaminé?

Two health lobby groups are calling for a national public registry of buildings containing asbestos.

McGill Research Integrity Officer Abraham Fuks said McDonald acknowledged he received financial support from the asbestos industry. In his report, Fuks said McDonald’s research was replicated by other groups and that its “robustness has endured many critical analyses and legal inquiries.”

A Radio-Canada documentary aired this year detailed how an institute set up by the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association paid professor McDonald and other McGill researchers at least $1 million between 1966 and 1972 for research on the health impacts of chrysotile asbestos.

Despite recent announcements in Ottawa and Quebec that suggest asbestos will soon be a thing of the past, products made of the cancer-causing mineral are still being imported and used in Ontario today.

It hurts, but it has to be said: Pauline Marois hasn’t even been sworn in as premier yet and she’s already shown more leadership and judgement on Quebec’s asbestos industry than any of her predecessors, or anyone in Ottawa.

The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) was too generous last Friday in lauding Ottawa’s announcement that day that Canada will stop objecting to the listing of asbestos as a dangerous material under the U.N.’s Rotterdam Convention on exports of hazardous materials.

The needle-like fibre had many uses and inventors were tripping over each other to find more: it was woven into clothes, building insulation and coffee pots. It was even mixed with children's play dough and, at one point, had roughly 4,000 other applications.

Canada's asbestos industry is effectively and finally shut down, with Industry Minister Christian Paradis's announcement Friday that the Canadian government will no long oppose the listing of asbestos as a hazardous substance in the international Rotterdam Convention.

The Harper government is throwing in the towel on Quebec’s internationally-maligned asbestos industry now that the Parti Québécois is poised to take power and prohibit extraction of the cancer-causing mineral.

Workers suffering from illnesses caused by on-the-job asbestos exposure will soon be eligible to receive diagnostic CT scans funded by WorkSafeBC in an effort to diagnose lung cancer sooner and reduce mortality from the disease.

Anti-asbestos advocates plan to hold the newly-elected Parti Québécois government to its promise to cancel the $58-million government loan to the Jeffrey Mine and put an end to this province’s long history of production and export of the deadly fibre.

The party considered the front-runner in the Quebec election is poised to shut down what's left of Canada's 

A Parti Québécois government would essentially end the controversial asbestos industry in the province by cancelling a $58-million loan to Canada’s last asbestos mine and using the funds to diversify the local economy, said party leader Pauline Marois.

The position statement was issued in late July by the Joint Policy Committee of the Societies of Epidemiology, a consortium of international epidemiology organizations including the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the American College of Epidemiology. More than 180 individuals and public health groups from 21 countries have endorsed the statement.

“We can’t sign an agreement with a company and because there is a change of government just put that agreement in the trash,” he said.

“I would not have granted that loan,” Legault added. “I find it abnormal.”

A Coalition Avenir Québec government would try to obtain all the environmental powers and functions that the federal government now has in Quebec, party leader François Legault says.

Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois also criticized the Liberal Party on Saturday for its decision to loan investors tens of millions to re-open the mine in Asbestos, QC, about 160 km east of Montreal.

Even if Harper and Charest are indifferent to protection of health overseas, one would think they would recognize the unsound financial basis of Quebec taxpayers carrying 70 per cent of the risk of a project, shunned by private investors, except one discredited company in a country about to ban asbestos.

AFP - A top researcher and campaigner on industrial health issues has refused France's highest honour in protest at official inaction over what she described as "industrial crimes" in this sector.

A joint committee of epidemiologist societies around the world is calling for a global ban on the mining, use and export of all forms of asbestos. Its statement has been endorsed by more than 150 Canadian and international public health, civil society organizations and individual scientists from twenty countries.

2012.07.30: Gazette - Charest government may have miscalculated announcement to reopen Jeffrey Asbestos Mine with a $58-million loan

Ever wonder what it feels like to loan $58-million to an industry whose biggest clients don’t even want your product and are actively working to ban it? If so, then look no further than Jean Charest for a prime example of an ill-advised investment. Last June, the Quebec Liberals announced a $58-million loan to Mineral Fiber, the company that owns Jeffrey Mine, in order to resuscitate the (rightfully) dead asbestos industry.

The statement, released Tuesday, calling for the ban on the mining, use and export of all form of asbestos has already been approved by over 150 public health organizations and scientists from at least 20 countries.

Epidemiologists are usually a quiet, careful bunch. 

MONTREAL - More than 150 international and Canadian public health organizations and individual scientists are demanding a worldwide ban on the mining, export and use of asbestos.

Le gouvernement du Québec a avancé des millions de dollars l'an dernier pour la relance de la mine Jeffrey, plusieurs mois avant d'en faire l'annonce officielle à la fin juin, a appris La Presse.

Au moment où le gouvernement du Québec appuie financièrement la relance de la mine Jeffrey, à Asbestos, l'annonce de la renaissance de l'industrie de l'amiante remue de douloureux souvenirs dans un quartier montréalais.

She said Jonckheere hopes to visit Quebec while in Canada to speak out against Quebec’s decision to provide a $58-million loan allowing the Jeffrey asbestos mine in that province’s Eastern Townships to reopen.

Canada's mining industry is globally competitive, and has long succeeded without much in the way of government subsidies. It even thrived in the last recession by responding to market demand. Yet instead of letting markets drive mining investment in Quebec, the provincial government is bailing out the asbestos industry using taxpayer money -- and this for a product that is harmful to human health.

A project to set up a registry of workers exposed to asbestos at a Baie Verte Peninsula mine — which some miners and their union hope will ultimately lead to more former workers receiving compensation — is long overdue.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/05/20/nl-asbestos-registry-521.html?cmp=rss

The federal government says it doesn't actively keep track of projects to remove asbestos from infrastructure, despite owning 318 buildings that contain the cancer-causing substance, according to a recently compiled list from Public Works and Government Services Canada.

http://www.canada.com/technology/Cancer+causing+asbestos+federal+buildings+across+Canada/6654696/story.html#ixzz1vWgz9Nno

The two sisters are asking for a ban on the extraction and utilization of asbestos and chrysotile (white asbestos) in Canada. And they’re not seeking justice for their families and Canadian victims only.

http://www.tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=12173

The effects of long years of exposure to asbestos is still one of the biggest challenges faced by British Columbia’s workers today, and it is expected to continue to be a problem in this decade.

http://www.cos-mag.com/Hygiene/Hygiene-Stories/worksafebc-exec-says-asbestos-disease-still-top-concern-for-bc-workers.html

2012.04.05: The Gazette - Preliminary review of retired prof McDonald's ties to asbestos industry inconclusive

2012.04.06: The Gazette - Critic fears McGill University's review of asbestos industry ties will be 'whitewash'

McGill University has completed its preliminary review of whether the work of retired professor John Corbett McDonald was improperly influenced by his ties to the asbestos industry, and the administration will soon announce whether a formal investigation will be launched.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Critic+fears+McGill+asbestos+review+will+whitewash/6400617/story.html

The head of Jeffrey mine is denying rumours that the layoff of 50 workers for the month of April is being caused by potential investors backing out. “We have not lost any of our financial partners,” Bernard Coulombe told the Record Wednesday morning.

Asbestos brake pads that can release deadly fibres during repairs will soon be banned in Ontario, if one member of the provincial parliament has her way.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/03/20/asbestos-brake-ban-proposal-ontario.html

Rick Garant can vividly recall the asbestos-filled dust that swirled around the old brake factory where he worked in Tilbury, Ont., near Windsor, in the 1980s.

McGill professor Bruce Case has vowed that the CBC will face “consequences” for how he was depicted in a documentary on the University’s ties to the asbestos industry broadcast last month.

Students at the University of Calgary expressed fears about the state of their classrooms after the school said it received complaints related to asbestos removal.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Asbestos+issue+sparks+fear+from+students/6304980/story.html

Le projet controversé de relance de cette mine d'amiante à Asbestos n'a pu obtenir de financement des banques, a affirmé, vendredi, M. Khadir.

Anti-asbestos campaigners reacted by calling for the resignation of board president Ted Tanaka "for betraying asbestos victims and the very mission of the Red Cross."

http://www.canada.com/health/Cross+sticking+board+member+with+ties+asbestos+industry/5993965/story.html#ixzz1jO5azpo0

Tout indique que la relance de Mine Jeffrey d’Asbestos sera confirmée d’ici les prochaines semaines. L’entrepreneur CMAC-Tyssen serait à la recherche de personnel pour les travaux préparatoires, en vue d’une relance de la compagnie. Le mandat de la firme serait en vigueur dès le mois de février. 

 Public-health authorities and trade unions in Quebec have criticized the failure of the Quebec government to set up a registry of the location of asbestos in buildings and infrastructure, making it impossible to protect construction workers from asbestos harm.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/asbestos/5960649/story.html

LAB Chrysotile Inc., one of the Quebec asbestos mining industry’s two potential survivors, said Wednesday it has filed for bankruptcy because of high fixed costs and sharply declining revenues.

11.01.05: Vancouver Sun - Quebec asbestos miner files for bankruptcy

Critics are saying the federal and Quebec governments should finally pull the plug on the province's asbestos industry, which possibly rivals the seal hunt as an international black mark against Canada.

So what can you do? Wilson and others say it’s time to write letters to members of Parliament, and it’s time to publicize the fact that, for many, Canada’s position on asbestos isn’t supportable.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/canadas-asbestos-industry-on-its-last-legs/article2291320/

“There will be fibre cement in a very precise use: disposal of stormwater. The fibre cement is a material that is very rigid. It contains only 13 per cent of fibres that are sealed and encapsulated in a cement matrix. The fibres are not brittle and therefore pose no risk of emission of particles in the air.”

Canada's reputation took a hit earlier this year, when the government blocked international efforts to label the chrysotile asbestos — the kind mined in Canada — as a hazardous material under the UN Rotterdam Convention.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Critics+brand+asbestos+Canada+latest+global/5918574/story.html

Les négociations en cours entre le Canada et l'Inde pour parvenir à un accord de libre-échange entre les deux pays d'ici 2013 auront peut-être un effet insoupçonné: celui d'augmenter les ventes d'amiante.

http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/337729/amiante-le-canada-et-l-inde-feront-tomber-les-barrieres-tarifaires

On the contrary, reputable medical and public health authorities in Quebec and across Canada have condemned Mr Chadha’s claims as misinformation that will lead to loss of life. 

Photographer Louie Palu chronicles Canada's trade in a notorious mineral

Canada’s once-mighty asbestos sector has ground to a halt for the first time in 130 years, as production of the controversial fibre has stalled in both of the country’s mines.

A growing number of Conservative MPs are questioning their government's position on the export of asbestos, with a group of them independently summoning industry experts to a meeting on Parliament Hill last week.

So it was notable indeed that a group consisting of about a dozen Conservatives independently summoned asbestos industry experts to Parliament Hill last week for a meeting, reportedly to discuss how Canadian asbestos is handled by workers in the poorer countries that import it.

Most of the world, including the medical community, agrees that asbestos is desperately dangerous. The World Health Organization reports that more than 100,000 people die every year from lung cancer and other respiratory diseases due to asbestos exposure.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/11/04/asbestos-victims-mine-protest.html

It's an issue the Conservatives faced last June, when the Canadian delegation at a UN meeting helped block the addition of chrysotile asbestos to a list of hazardous products. 

“In the past 15 years, the number of new cases of mesothelioma – a deadly disease known only to be caused by asbestos – has almost doubled from 276 cases in 1992 to 512 cases in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available. For each case of mesothelioma, it is conservatively estimated that there are two or more cases of lung cancer caused by asbestos. This means that, in 2007, over 1,536 Canadians became victims of deadly asbestos-related disease. This is a tragedy of colossal proportions. It is a tragedy that the Minister of Health must address,”

I also see benefits to the end users of the finished product, primarily corrugated cement roofing sheets manufactured using five- to seven-per-cent chrysotile asbestos. For the poorest of the poor in the developing world this low-cost, strong, stable product provides a basic roof over a family’s head. Despite statements to the contrary, no substitute product or material can provide the same benefits at the same price.

The deadline has already been pushed back several times and now the government says it hopes to have the matter resolved before the Christmas holidays.

There may have been a time when widows like Sarnia's Sandy Kinart felt helpless as they watched their men die from asbestos exposure.

Delegates to the Canadian Medical Association's general assembly voted nearly unanimously - 99 per cent - in support of a motion Wednesday opposing the federal government for contesting the international designation of chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous substance.

Its newly elected Conservative MP, Dr. Kellie Leitch, has been called out by hundreds of health professionals about her government's position on Canada's asbestos industry.

When Wickileaks dumped those American diplomatic cables onto the Internet, we learned that Stephen Harper “likes to see fear in [the] eyes” of his employees. How disconcerting it must be, then, for him to encounter Michaela Keyserlingk, who is neither an employee or — in Harper’s universe — an important person.

Economic Development Minister Clement Gignac says investors have a six-week extension, until Oct. 1, to get financing that will enable them to qualify for a government loan guarantee.

However, despite the backing she has received, Keyserlingk doesn't relish her position in the limelight. "I don't like it to be quite honest, I would like to get back to my own life," she said. "But it's worthwhile and I certainly owe that to my husband and I will keep on going."

When I first heard that my mother had mesothelioma, a cancer of which the only known cause is asbestos exposure, I should have been concerned about only one thing: her welfare. I should have gone through the stages of grieving that any child losing their mother experiences.

2011.07.05: BC Local News - On Friday, June 24, the Conservative government once again embarrassed our country on the international stage.

2011.07.04: MACLEANS - White gold

Mr. Nicholls, one of his patients, walks slowly around his home, catching his breath as his lungs slowly harden from a disease that will eventually suffocate him. But he too feels the industry is “not as dangerous as it once was” – though he is genuinely worried about the health of less-protected workers abroad.

Almost every other nation in attendance took the opposite position and as talks continued it appeared that there would be the unanimous agreement needed to add asbestos to the list. But Canada wouldn’t budge. The change was defeated. And asbestos continues to be, in an official sense, not a hazardous substance, no matter what the scientists say.

2011.06.23: Winnipeg Free Press - Hiding the risk of asbestos

2011.01.08: Montreal Gazette - The continued sale of Quebec's asbestos is indefensible
Premier Jean Charest and the asbestos lobby have had to come up with some new arguments to defend Quebec's export of asbestos. Their usual arguments -that Quebec's chrysotile asbestos is less harmful than other forms of asbestos and can be safely used -have been exposed as groundless by provincial, national and international medical authorities, who are appalled by Charest and Prime Minister Stephen Harper denying the science and putting politics ahead of human life.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/continued+sale+Quebec+asbestos+indefensible/4080013/story.html#ixzz1ASbO3R9F

2011.01.08: Le Devoir - Amiante: un groupe demande l'intervention du College des medecins
Une cinquantaine de medecins s'en prennent a l'ethique d'Yves Bolduc, "comme ministre et medecin" Pres de 50 medecins et quelques scientifiques du milieu de la sante ont reclame hier l'intervention du College des medecins du Quebec dans le dossier de la relance de l'industrie de l'amiante au Quebec grace a une garantie gouvernementale de pret de 58 millions.
http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/sante/314324/amiante-un-groupe-demande-l-intervention-du-college-des-medecins               English Version

2010.12.29: The Bullet: Working-Class Solidarity or Colonial Complicity? Quebec Unions and Asbestos

All the more troubling, therefore, was the reception that Quebec's union federations reserved the other week for a delegation from Asia, consisting of a representative of the Building and Wood Workers' International and victims of asbestos. The immediate aim of the delegation was to ask the government and people of Quebec not to give financial support to the exploitation of a new vein at the Jeffrey asbestos mine, whose production would be exported to Asia. Neither the FTQ (Federation des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Quebec) nor the CSN (Centrale des syndicats nationaux) saw fit to respond to the request for a meeting. Only the CSD (Centrale des syndicats democratiques) met the delegation, but in the presence of a lobbyist of the Chrysotile Institute.
http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/447.php

2010.12.28: The Observer - Asbestos exports decried
A former head of the local occupational health clinic is calling on Quebec's premier to halt a plan to loan millions of dollars to the provincial asbestos mining industry.
http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2907602

2010.12.28: Cyberpresse.ca - Amiante: la complicite des syndicats
D'autant plus deroutant est l'accueil reserve par nos centrales a une delegation venue de l'Asie la semaine derniere, composee d'un syndicaliste, representant de l'Internationale des travailleurs et des travailleurs du batiment et du bois (IBB), et de victimes de l'amiante. Le but immediat de la delegation etait de demander au gouvernement du Quebec, et au peuple du Quebec, de ne pas soutenir le financement de l'exploitation d'un nouveau gisement d'amiante a la mine Jeffrey, dont la production serait exportee en Asie.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/opinions/201012/28/01-4355902-amiante-la-complicite-des-syndicats.php               English Version
 
2010.12.22: Ecologist - Canada's plans to reopen world's largest asbestos mine will create "new generation" of victims??

Campaigners are protesting against plans to re-open the world's largest asbestos mine, the Jeffrey Mine in Quebec with the help of $58 million from the provincial government. The mine would export upwards of 6 million tonnes of chrysotile asbestos to less industrialised countries over the next 25 years.
http://goo.gl/gjW6w

2010.12.20 Le Devoir - L'avenir de l'amiante au Quebec - Un debat s'impose
Au moment ou le gouvernement du Quebec s'apprete a prendre une decision sur l'octroi d'un pret de 58 millions de dollars aux promoteurs de la reouverture de la mine Jeffrey, de nombreuses voix sur le plan international s'elevent contre ce projet. Une delegation asiatique de syndicalistes, d'activistes et de victimes de maladies associees a l'amiante est venue recemment au Quebec pour temoigner des dommages que l'usage de l'amiante quebecois cause dans leur pays. La prestigieuse revue medicale britannique The Lancet, dans un article en ligne paru recemment, accuse pour sa part le Canada d'hypocrisie concernant ses exportations d'amiante.    
http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/313335/l-avenir-de-l-amiante-au-quebec-un-debat-s-impose             English Version

2010.12.15: CTV Winnipeg - Two Tory staffers tried to block access to info: CP
In October, Paradis adviser Sebastien Togneri resigned after it was revealed he had meddled in at least three different access-to-information requests while with the Public Works Department.  In one case dealing with the members of a federal panel who wrote a damning report on asbestos, Paradis' political office had highlighted material it did not want released.
http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101215/paradis-documents-101215/20101215/?hub=WinnipegHome

2010.12.13: Montreal Gazette - Stop promoting asbestos exports
When Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc was asked what he thought of Industry Minister Clement Gignac's proposal to have the government's workplace health and safety board conduct an annual audit on the safe use of Quebec asbestos in countries to which the product is exported, he respectfully declined. For good political reasons, if not good health reasons.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Editorial+Stop+promoting+asbestos+exports/3967827/story.html#ixzz18DwZsTIo

2010.12.10: Le Devoir - Amiante - Un devoir moral
La pression s'accentue pour obtenir des gouvernements canadien et quebecois une interdiction de l'exploitation de l'amiante au Canada. Hier, le depute Amir Khadir deposait un projet de loi en ce sens a l'Assemblee nationale. De son cote, le chef du Nouveau Parti democratique, Jack Layton, demandait au premier ministre Harper d'agir en ce sens. Le silence des deux gouvernements devant les enjeux moraux que pose la poursuite de l'exploitation de ce minerai est de plus en plus troublant.       
http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/sante/312738/amiante-un-devoir-moral             English Version 

2010.12.10: Montreal Gazette - Asbestos community lobbies Quebec for loan guarantee
Despite a week of setbacks, asbestos advocates are pleading with the Quebec government to approve a loan guarantee before Christmas that would allow the controversial underground mine project in Asbestos to go ahead. On Friday, a coalition of elected officials from the asbestos-producing region announced their support for continued mining and export of the fibre.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Asbestos+community+lobbies+Quebec+loan+guarantee/3960610/story.html#ixzz18IfhtGPd

2010.12.09: Montreal Gazette - Quebec promises to conduct annual safety audit of asbestos exports
Quebec's industry minister said Thursday he will ask the province's workplace-safety board to conduct an annual audit on the safe use of Quebec asbestos in other countries. The pledge was quickly dismissed as "utopian and hypocritical" by critics. Industry Minister Clement Gignac was responding to a growing chorus of opposition to the planned reopening of the Jeffrey Mine in the town of Asbestos, south of Quebec City.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Quebec+promises+conduct+annual+safety+audit+asbestos+exports/3954544/story.html#ixzz18IgYFha4

2010.09.30: The Globe and Mail - Tory minister's aide resigns after meddling repeatedly in ATI requests

A New Democrat MP has challenged the federal government to cut its budget funding for the Chrysotile Institute, a Quebec-based advocacy group for the asbestos industry.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Feds+should+asbestos+funding/2698741/story.html

2010.03.18: Parliamentary Bureau - Paradis, NDPer duke it out over asbestos     
OTTAWA Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis and the NDPs Pat Martin verbally duked it out Thursday over asbestos.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2010/03/18/13281786-qmi.html

2010.02.05: Winnipeg Free Press - Charest faces more questions about export of asbestos during visit to India
Premier Jean Charest maintains he can do nothing to protect workers in India who are exposed to the health risks of asbestos that's mined from Quebec.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/83652822.html

The federal government promotes asbestos exports despite the fact that the use of asbestos has all but disappeared in this country. Why? Because scientists, governments, industries and unions have concluded that the product can lead to a variety of health-related problems and, in some cases, to death.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/playing-a-dirty-game-exporting-asbestos/article1456630/

2010.02.04: Globe and Mail - Quebec physicians urge Charest to call for end to silence on asbestos
Doctors claim Indian scientists being threatened with legal action for disseminating information on the dangers of chrysotile asbestos
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-physicians-urge-charest-to-call-for-end-to-silence-on-asbestos/article1456997/

 

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Scientists+labour+groups+sound+alarm/2502329/story.html

2010.01.30: THE GAZETTE: Asbestos: A pile of trouble
Forecasters were calling for snow this week in Thetford Mines. But for the first winter in recent memory, the town is not spreading asbestos-laden mine residue on the roads as an abrasive.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Asbestos+pile+trouble/2503075/story.html

2010.01.29: The Gazette - Quebec accused of hypocrisy on asbestos exports
More than 100 prominent scientists and researchers from 28 countries appealed yesterday to Premier Jean Charest on the eve of his trade mission to India to stop exporting Quebec-mined asbestos to developing nations.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Quebec+accused+hypocrisy+asbestos+exports/2496940/story.html

2010.01.29: CBC News - Charest may face asbestos protests in India
Quebec Premier Jean Charest will face protests over the provinces continued exportation of asbestos when he arrives in India on Sunday, according to a Montreal newspaper report.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/01/29/qc-charest-protests-india-asbestos.html

2010.01.29: Globe and Mail - Charest told to ban asbestos exports
Scientists from 28 countries are calling on Jean Charest to ban the use and export of all forms of asbestos, placing the Quebec Premier in an embarrassing position on the eve of his trade mission to India, the province's biggest importer of asbestos.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/charest-told-to-ban-asbestos-exports/article1448541/

2010-01-29: Le Soleil Stop exporting asbestos and supporting the industrie
To the premier of Quebec, Jean Charest As scientific experts of twenty-eight countries, sworn to the protection of public health, we ask that you recognize the incontestable scientific proof that all forms of asbestos are dangerous, as well as the WHO judgment that there is no secure means of using asbestos. http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/opinions/points-de-vue/201001/29/01-944212-arretez-dexporter-lamiante-et-de-soutenir-lindustrie.php

2010.01.28: CTV news - Scientists implore Charest to stop asbestos exports
The 100 or so scientists say the province needs to stop mining asbestos -- also called chrysotile -- and stop sending it abroad.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100128/quebec_asbestos_100128/20100128?hub=Canada

2009.12.27: Meet Quebec's 'Mr. Asbestos'

Bernard Coulombe has big plans for a mineral shunned here but valued in the developing world
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/742991--meet-quebec-s-mr-asbestos

2009.12.27: Canada's lethal export
If Canadians think that exporting asbestos is a marginal, dying business, they ought to think again. Canada ships $100 million worth of chrysotile asbestos a year to developing nations such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam, where it is used to make cheap, fire-resistant roofing, cement, water lines and other products. We are one of the world's most aggressive exporters.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/742677--canada-s-lethal-export

2009.12.15: Canada's booming asbestos market
The cancer-causing mineral is prized in India, even as it is reviled here. Jennifer Wells investigates the demand for a product we shun – but still mine
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/india/article/741085--canada-s-booming-asbestos-market

2009.12.15: Climate-change skeptics gain from Ottawa funding
The federal government has been funding an asbestos lobby group that promotes the work of prominent climate-change skeptics.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/12/15/asbestos-climate-change.html

2009.12.10: Canadian exports on rise again
For the first time in four months, Canada notched a surplus in October, netting $428-million thanks to high commodities prices and an unexpected run on canola oil. The biggest increases have been in aircraft and asbestos.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canadian-exports-on-rise-again/article1396239/

2009.12.02: Quebec government holding onto health report into link between asbestos and cancer
For eight months, the Quebec government has been holding on to a report that explores the link between asbestos-related cancer and Canada's only community that still mines the substance.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gyb3_nLxBq5u9GktW-ZtVkzH9wJw

2009.12.02: Quebec health officials denounce asbestos
Public health officials in Quebec have added their voices to those calling on the Canadian government to end its support for the mining and use of asbestos.
The group has sent a letter to federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq criticizing the government for its support of the mineral that has been banned in many countries as a health hazard.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/12/02/quebec-officials-criticize-asbestos.html

2009.12.01: Quebec health officials speak out against asbestos
Critics send letter to federal Health Minister demanding action but risk backlash in province that mines the deadly mineral
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-health-officials-speak-out-against-asbestos/article1385045/

2009.12.01:  Quebec health experts are “a little gang of Talibans”, accuses Quebec’s asbestos industry
Medical experts working for the Quebec government’s National Public Health Institute (INSPQ) are “a little gang of Talibans”, charges Bernard Coulombe, president of the Jeffrey asbestos mine.
http://www.rightoncanada.ca/?p=395

2009.10.08: Asbestos killing more Canadians than ever; like old 'landmines'

An aggressive cancer linked to asbestos is killing more Canadians than ever before, even decades after the end of a boom that saw buildings stuffed with the toxic substance. The number of reported new cases annually of mesothelioma shot up 67 per cent over a decade and a half from 276 across the country to 461 according to the most recent federal figures.
http://www.rdmag.com/News/FeedsAP/2009/11/life-sciences-asbestos-killing-more-canadians-than-ever-like-ol/

2009.10.23: Two interesting articles in Quebec's Le Soleil newspaper on Oct. 24
The 1st article quotes figures from Quebec's CSST (Workers Compensation Commission) for the period Jan 1 - Aug 9, 2009, showing that of the 104 deaths from disease, road accidents or any cause, 61 were due to asbestos. For deaths from occupational disease, 84% were from asbestos (61 of the 73 deaths).

It is significant that the article quotes a prominent Quebec union leader highlighting the threat that asbestos continues to pose to Quebec workers and angry at the failure of the Quebec government to take action to protect workers from asbestos harm.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/affaires/actualite-economique/200910/23/01-914577-lamiante-premiere-cause-de-deces-au-travail.php
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/affaires/actualite-economique/200910/23/01-914575-amiante-portrait-noirci-plaide-lindustrie.php

2009.10.03: Asbestos opponents at Harper’s door, Le Soleil, Nov. 3, 2009
A large coalition of environmentalists, health experts & trade unionists, principally from English Canada, are asking Stepen Harter to establish a national registry of all buildings and places contaminated with asbestos. The letter is signed by Larry Stoffman in the name of the ban asbestos committee and is endorsed by groups such as the Sierra Club, Canadian Association of University Teachers, the Canadian Auto Workers, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Quebec association of asbestos victims.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/environnement/200911/03/01-918045-les-opposants-a-lamiante-aux-portes-de-harper.php

2009.08.28: Whatever you call it, asbestos is deadly
We do this knowing the World Health Organization has condemned the use of chrysotile asbestos, the most commonly used type of asbestos...
http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/viewpoints/story.html?id=bf70624a-4270-428e-af6c-c46622a16ef5

2009.09.21: L'amiante menace la population, estiment les experts
L'histoire des planchers d'école contenant de l'amiante confirme que cette substance cancérogène est une menace non seulement pour les travailleurs de l'industrie, mais pour l'ensemble de la population, estime Fernand Turcotte, professeur émérite de médecine à l'Université Laval.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/environnement/200909/21/01-903799-lamiante-menace-la-population-estiment-les-experts.php

2009.09.21: De l'amiante se libère des planchers des écoles
Les planchers d'un bon nombre d'écoles du Québec contiennent de l'amiante. Or une étude menée par la CSST révèle que les techniques de nettoyage libèrent des fibres de cette «matière dangereuse» dans l'air de ces établissements, a appris La Presse.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/environnement/200909/21/01-903788-de-lamiante-se-libere-des-planchers-des-ecoles.php

2009.08.11: Le cancer provoqué par l'amiante fait de plus en plus de victimes au Canada
Canadian Press: Le nombre de nouveaux cas de mésothéliome rapportés annuellement a grimpé de 67 pour cent depuis une quinzaine d'années, étant passés de 276 à 461 à travers le pays, selon les plus récentes statistiques fédérales.
http://www.google.com:80/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hME46YVEQpItBMraYqvrhnl7vCTw

2009.08.11: Asbestos killing more Canadians than ever; like old 'landmines' 
Associated Press: An aggressive cancer linked to asbestos is killing more Canadians than ever before, even decades after the end of a boom that saw buildings stuffed with the toxic substance. Experts warn that the upward trend will continue for years as Canada feels the residual impact of its asbestos boom, and will likely be far worse in developing countries that still heavily use Canadian exports.

http://www.rdmag.com:80/News/FeedsAP/2009/11/life-sciences-asbestos-killing-more-canadians-than-ever-like-ol/

2009.06.11: Asbestos leading cause of work related deaths in Quebec
Ottawa Citizen: 60% of Quebec work related deaths in the first eight months of this year are from asbestos
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Quebec+Asbestos+leading+cause+work+related+deaths/2190423/story.html

2009.10.26: Dangers Of Quebec Exporting Asbestos Ignored By Ottawa.
Winnipeg Free Press: It was a tragic week on Parliament Hill. A 50-year-old father and grandfather died following an explosion in a steam plant that heats 52 buildings in downtown Ottawa, including the Parliament Buildings. It is yet another reminder of the dangers of asbestos, which has been mined in Canada for decades but has become an international pariah because of the dangers it poses. Dozens of countries have banned its use but Canada continues to mine and export asbestos from one remaining mine in Quebec.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/dangers-of-asbestos-ignored-by-ottawa-65967742.html

2009.10.24: L'amiante, Première Cause De Décès Au Travail 
Le Soleil, Quebec: L'amiante représente de loin la principale cause de mortalité au travail pour le Québec. Durant les huit premiers mois de 2009, l'exposition à ce minerai a causé 60 % de tous les décès de travailleurs, actifs ou retraités 
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/affaires/actualite-economique/200910/23/01-914577-lamiante-premiere-cause-de-deces-au-travail.php 

2009.10.17: A Deadly Industry That Is About To Die
Ottawa Citizen: Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the last remaining national leader supporting this dying and deadly trade. It’s time he, like Ignatieff and two of Harper’s own backbenchers, recognized what both ethics and economics are showing: it’s time that he stopped supporting asbestos.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/deadly+industry 

2009.09.29: Canada's Shameful Secret
Even today with the health hazards of asbestos well documented, Canada remains the fifth largest exporter of the mineral fiber in the world. In a tough-minded editorial, The Montreal Gazette newspaper chastises the government for supporting the export of a material known to cause cancer and for subsidizing the Canadian mines that produce it.” 
http://www.aboutmesothelioma.net/2009/09/canadas-shameful-secret.asp

La Presse: A world scientific expert on asbestos, affiliated with the International Centre for Research on Cancer, believes that Canada is mocking its human rights policy by exporting this cancer-causing substance to the third world.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca:80/actualites/200909/16/01-902229-amiante-le-canada-bafouerait-les-droits-de-la-personne.php

 http://www.hilltimes.com:80/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=2009/june/29/cancer/&c=2

2009.06.10: Asbestos: The Magic Mineral That Was Once Canada's Gold
CBC News: But in the 1960s and '70s, when more and more asbestos miners started coughing up blood, the sheen wore off. Canada has spent the last 20-plus years trying to rid our homes, schools and offices — including Parliament Hill — of the dangerous dust that was often loosely sprayed as insulation.
http://www.cbc.ca:80/canada/story/2009/06/10/f-asbestos-safety.html

2009.04.03: Gobe and Mail: Canada’s Asbestos Shame
Martin Mittelstaedt: It's not just that Canada is home to companies that sell asbestos abroad. The federal and Quebec governments actively promote it, spending tens of millions since 1984 to encourage the remaining markets, mainly in developing countries. Ottawa has even mobilized Canadian diplomatic staff, from Jakarta to Washington, as recently as last summer, to stand on guard against asbestos bans in the roughly 70 countries that still buy it from Canada. The biggest purchaser, taking about a quarter of Canada's output, is India, where it's easy to find workers using one of the most dangerous materials in the world clad only in T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops. Ottawa said it doesn't verify whether buyers follow Canadian-style rules when using asbestos, arguing that seeking such information would violate foreign sovereignty. "Anyone who says there's controlled use of asbestos in the Third World is either a liar or a fool," says Barry Castleman, a consultant who helped to advise Europeans in 2000 on Canada's unsuccessful attempt to overturn a French ban on Canadian asbestos. In July, the Canadian embassy in Washington sent a letter to the U.S. Senate, which was considering an asbestos ban. The letter conceded that "all forms of asbestos fibres, including chrysotile, are carcinogenic," but it maintained that its use can be safe if proper precautions are followed. The Senate ignored the advice and voted unanimously this month to ban asbestos.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/article791256.ece

 

2009.01.29: Government Must Stop Funding The Misleading Chrysolite Institute

Canadian experts in epidemiology and occupational medicine tell the Prime Minister that the Chrysotile Institute is endangering public health by disseminating misleading and untruthful information about chrysotile asbestos, especially in the world’s emerging economies.
http://www.bacanada.org/Letter%20Prime%20Minister%20Harper%20Jan%2023%2009.pdf