Exporting Cancer

No excuses, no shame whatever.  In the wake of the government of Quebec announcing its $58-million loan to convert the open pit Jeffrey chrysotile asbestos mine, the town of Asbestos is celebrating.  Their natural resource that has been mined there traditionally, initially as a valuable source of a material that was fire-resistant, that could be used in building and in a variety of products has proven to be a source of a dreadful malady: cancer.

Asbestos mine workers suffered from lung disease, and so did people who used the material in construction.  Exposure to asbestos is now internationally recognized as a distinct and direct hazard to human health and longevity.  Advanced countries of the world forbid its use.  Canada itself has spent untold millions in the health-required task of removing asbestos from elderly buildings to ensure they are safe to work in.

Asbestos use is outlawed in Canada.  Yet in Canada it is continuing to be mined, because the open pit mine that has been in a non-productive state for a while is now being breathed new life into by the government of Quebec which sees its opportunity in providing a relative handful of jobs in the industry to residents of Asbestos.  The government of Canada evidently sees no need to use its influence to shut down the industry.

There are votes to be had in seeing that the miners in Asbestos are employed, although diversification is on the horizon, the town speaks of the tourism industry coming to their beautiful area of the province aided by the creation of a new regional park.  The mayor of Asbestos, Bernard Coulombe, speaks of the friendliness of the people of Asbestos.

And the friendly people of Asbestos want to be gainfully employed.  They feel they can do this with little risk to themselves, using new and approved protective methods when handling asbestos, rather than breathing in the fibres as workers have historically done, and in the process making their lives inestimably briefer and more painful than people employed in other industries.

Both governments insist that chrysotile asbestos is the safest kind of asbestos.  That it is a valuable, useful material when handled and used properly.  And that guidelines have been created to ensure that those who use it understand the safety parameters, and practise them.  Except that it is only countries in the developing world that now use asbestos, and they haven't the means nor the social impetus to be concerned with worker safety.

In an interview, the mayor of Asbestos justified the re-opening of the mine: "In the past, our region was focused on mining, but in the last 15 years, the mine has operated only sporadically.  Still, everyone believes in the Jeffrey mine project.  Everyone is behind it. Everyone has hoped for it.  At the same time we are relaunching the entire region."

"We have high-quality facilities, we have all the services expected of a central town.  We have a 24-hour emergency room, we have a long-term care centre.  We are no sicker here than elsewhere in Quebec.  the average age confirms that.  I am a native of Asbestos.  I have lived all my life here and when I was young, from 8 to 12 years old, we played right next to the mine tailing piles, and I'm no sicker than anyone else.  I'm in perfect health."

"I have a daughter who is 20 months old.  She will decide on her own what kind of a career she wants.  But if there were a risk for the health of my daughter, or of the population, under no circumstances would I have ever supported the Jeffrey mine project.  I'm not stupid.  Our duty is the health and welfare of our population.  I guarantee that as far as risks to the health of the overall population and the children, there is no problem."

No problem.  Not in Quebec, perhaps.  But the exportation of chrysotile asbestos to undeveloped parts of the world where workers earning a pittance, where governments who have other issues of concern rather than worker safety, does signify a significant problem there.  Canada is exporting a known source of cancer.  Can't we be more responsible?

"One of the conditions government gave to owners of the mine is that there will be environmental audits paid for by Jeffrey Mine, done by independent firms, to verify how the product is used in countries where it is exported.  There are ways to export and to use it safely", claims the town's mayor with great confidence.