Asbestos
From: Shane in Wpg
To: national@cbc.ca
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 10:17 PM
The National
CBC
Dear friends,
Thank you so much for exposing the shame of just one small piece of Canadian foreign Policy.... the sale of Asbestos to third world countries.
I wish I could believe this is an 'oversight' of our Canadian government, but having just read "The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy" by Yves Engler, I cannot.
Engler's book documents the decades of crimes against humanity that are perpetuated in the name of "The Economy", the Canadian economy that our government bows down to, even when it is clear that economy is often based upon ravaging the environment in distant lands; virtually enslaving workers in distant lands where they have absolutely no protection, no health care and little hope; often destroying the agriculture of those lands and even poisoning the air, water and food of those workers.
But then if business wants to do those things, their servants, our government, facilitates their actions, even backs them up with military might. After all it is good for "The Economy"
It is time Canadians realized that the disappearance of our fresh water, the disappearance of our fresh air and the poisoning of our foods are only the logical next step after our Canadian companies and “our” government have spread those evils over much of the world.
Read the book and weep for your naive fantasies of a “gentler - fairer” country!
Shane Nestruck
Winnipeg
510-8828
The Economy is a false god - Democracy sleeps in Canada
shanedn@mts.net
http://geocities.com/SaxologyCanada/
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Urgent letter to Ignatieff on asbestos . . .
See Mining Watch Canada's Overview below.
At the Standing Committee on Natural Resources meeting yesterday, NO member of the Committee gave support for NDP Pat Martin's motion to cut the $250,000 funding in the department's estimates allocated for the Chrysotile Institute. The Liberal MPs on the committee did NOT give any support. They stayed silent. Therefore, Pat Martin continued to keep talking, seeking support until finally, the other members of the Committee got up and left the room so there was no longer quorum. Therefore the vote on his motion was not taken.
The Committee will reconvene on Tuesday March 23 at 9 am and the motion to cut the funding to the Chrysotile Institute will be voted on.
Please send a letter right away to Michael Ignatieff and call on him to honour his commitment that the Liberal Party will no longer support the asbestos industry. Demand that at the March 23 Commitee meeting, the Liberal MPs vote in support of cutting the funding to the Chrysotile Institute. This has nothing to do with a confidence motion. The Liberal MPs can vote to cut the $250,000 allocated to the Chrysotile Institute. Ignatieff must decide, once and for all, if they are or are not going to continue supporting the asbestos lobby.
Ignatieff’s email address is: IgnatM@parl.gc.ca
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Mining Watch Canada - Asbestos - Overview:
http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/category/4 ... /5126/5152
Asbestos - Overview - Jun 04 2009
Asbestos is a mineral based fibre that has been widely used all over the world due it its resistance to heat and corrosive chemicals. Typically asbestos appears as a whitish, fibrous material, known as chrysotile asbestos. Asbestos has been used in over 3000 products, everything from brake linings to children's toys. Asbestos has been widely used to fireproof ceilings, walls, tiles, and beams. It has also been used as insulation on pipes, broilers, and has been sprayed on walls. Breathing in asbestos fibres can cause asbestosis and cancer.
More:
http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/category/4 ... /5126/5152
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(Posted with permission. Ed.)
March 20, 2010
Dear Mr. Ignatieff,
I read with considerable disappointment that Pat Martin's motion to cut the $250,000 funding allocated for the Chrysotile Institute did not receive any support.
Please honour your commitment to no longer support the asbestos industry. When the Standing Committee meets again on March 23, I hope that you would support the cutting of funding to the Chrysotile Institute.
We know full well how devastating this mineral is. Help put a stop to Canada's deliberate and unconscionable mining and exporting of asbestos.
The Conservative government is leading our nation's reputation down the road of being recognized as one of the most self-serving, environmentally dysfunctional nations of the world. Not one we are proud of.
Please do the right thing on March 23 at 9 am at the Standing Committee on Natural Resources meeting. Support Mr. Martin's motion.
Yours truly,
Sharon & Joseph Cross
2112 - 5 St. N.
Cranbrook, BC V1C 4Y3
250-489-4412
josephcrossart@me.com
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March 20, 2010
Hello, Mr. Ignatieff
I'm contacting you to ask you to honour your commitment to the Canadian people (and to the world) that the Liberal Party will no longer support the asbestos industry.
In particular, when the Standing Committee on Natural Resources reconvenes on Tuesday March 23, the Liberal MPs will have the opportunity to vote in favour MP Pat Martin's motion to stop more of my tax money going to this dangerous and unnecessary industry - to the tune of $250,000 to the Chrysolite Institute!
I demand that you and your Party vote in favour of this motion and stop supporting the asbestos lobby.
I will be following this issuel I’m hopeful that the Liberal Party will do the right thing and vote in favour of this motion.
Thank you.
Elaine Hughes
Box 23, Archerwill, SK S0E 0B0
Tel. (306) 323-4938
cc:
Martin, Pat - Fed. NDP ; Council of Canadians ; Mining Watch.ca
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ACTION ALERT: Cut the $250K PM Harper wants to give to the asbestos lobby
http://www.rightoncanada.ca/?p=741
While cutting funds from women's groups and aboriginal healing programs, Prime Minister Harper wants to give away $250,000.00 of taxpayers' money to fund an asbestos lobby group (the Chrysotile institute). This Institute promotes asbestos in developing countries, telling them it can be safely used. Health authorities say the Institute's information is dangerous and false and will lead to an epidemic of asbestos disease and death overseas.
The Institute's response? It says the position of the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Cancer Society and the World Health Organisation is "wacko".
Write to PM Harper and tell him to stop this callous and immoral misuse of taxpayer funds to export asbestos disease to developing countries.
http://www.rightoncanada.ca/?p=741
Thank you for speaking up for health and human rights. Thank you for saying "Not in my name and not with my tax dollars."
Kathleen, Pauline and Becky for RightOnCanada.ca
Sent from: Rideau Institute, 63 Sparks Street, Suite 608, Ottawa, ON K1P 5A6.
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Deathbed reprieve for killer industry?
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editoria ... n/article/
819432--deathbed-reprieve-for-killer-industry
June 06, 2010 Kathleen Ruff
The battle to end Canada's export of deadly asbestos may be about to be lost.
Economically, the industry is on its deathbed. The last two asbestos mines (the Jeffrey mine and the Black Lake mine in Quebec) are both under bankruptcy protection, have almost exhausted their asbestos deposits, have slashed the wages of remaining workers and seen sales plummet by 50 per cent in the last decade. But the industry is counting on Premier Jean Charest and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to rescue it.
Apart from the moral issue of exporting asbestos disease for profit, taxpayers might want to take note of how two supposedly business-minded political leaders are risking public funds and Canada's international political capital to resuscitate an industry that is notorious for its record of economic disaster and public health tragedy.
Charest is on the verge of giving the industry a $58 million loan to finance a new, underground Jeffrey mine. He has set two conditions: that the workers sign a five-year contract; and that they put 10 per cent of their wages into a trust fund for five years, creating a reserve of $10 million that taxpayers would get if the mine fails and taxpayers have to pay the $58 million loan guarantee.
The industry tried unsuccessfully to get financing from private investors. Last year it seemed that a Chinese investment company might do so, but it withdrew at the last moment. Now Charest is stepping in with public funds where private enterprise refused to go. [ . . . ]
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On Eve of G-20 Summit, Canadian Government Bashes Others for Trade Distortions While Poised to OK Huge Subsidy for Asbestos Exports
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressr ... fm?ID=3155
June 24, 2010
EU Parliamentarian Calls for WTO Challenge of $58 Million Loan Guarantee Subsidy for Deadly Exports
WASHINGTON, D.C. – “Hypocrisy!” may be the leading headline coming out of the imminent G-20 and G-8 summits as news of host country Canada’s pending $58 million loan guarantee subsidy to restart Canadian asbestos exports slams into the government’s recent pre-summit lectures about the need for participating countries to avoid trade distortions, Public Citizen said today.
“The Canadian government endlessly chastises other countries’ purported trade distortions but apparently the Harper administration’s fealty to free trade does not apply to Canada creating a massive new subsidy that would boost exports of a deadly substance, asbestos,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division.
The open-pit Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec, has exported huge amounts of asbestos for the past century. Now, its surface asbestos supply exhausted, the company is under bankruptcy protection. After not being able to find financing on the private market, the mine’s owners have sought a $58 million loan guarantee from the Quebec government to open a new underground mine so that it can export asbestos to developing countries for the next 25 years. Under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, a loan guarantee that facilitates financing on terms more favorable than otherwise available in the market is considered a subsidy. The subsidy is expected to be approved by July 1.
Very little of the asbestos that would be mined at the Jeffrey Mine would enter commerce in Canada. Almost all of it would be exported – with much going to WTO-member nations to whom Canada has trade obligations that forbid export subsidization. While WTO rules generally discipline government subsidies, export subsidies are explicitly forbidden.
The Harper government attacked U.S. Buy America provisions in the 2009 Economic Stimulus bill that fully complied with U.S., WTO and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) obligations. Yet, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minister of Natural Resources, Christian Paradis, is a leading advocate of this major subsidy to boost Canadian exports despite trade pacts rules that forbid export subsidy trade distortions.
“You do not have to be a fan of the current trade rules to be outraged by the stunning hypocrisy of the Canadian government supporting a massive government subsidy to resume operations at an asbestos mine whose deadly product will mainly be exported to developing countries,” Wallach said.
European parliamentarian Stephen Hughes (U.K.) recently tabled an inquiry calling for a WTO challenge of the proposed Canadian subsidy. The European Union has banned all use of asbestos and extraction, manufacture and processing of asbestos products in 2005.
“A new WTO challenge of a new Canadian export subsidy certainly would make a mockery of the Canadian government’s pre-summit briefings that have criticized other countries’ purported slide toward protectionism and trade distortions,” Wallach said.
Quebec and the rest of Canada, like other industrialized countries, refuse to use asbestos and are experiencing an epidemic of asbestos-related disease from past use. The world’s leading health authorities have called for asbestos to be banned. Fifty-two countries have banned all forms of asbestos.
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Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit public interest organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.
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Two big victories in the fight against asbestos
http://murraydobbin.ca/2011/03/10/
two-big-victories-in-the-fight-against-asbestos/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MurrayDobbin+%28Murray+Dobbin%27s+Blog%29
Posted on March 10, 2011 by murraydobbin
This past week has seen two very significant victories in the long battle against Canadian exports of asbestos. There is only one mine in Canada – in Quebec – that still exports the deadly substance but trying to halt the trade has proved extremely difficult, despite the fact that asbestos kills 107,000 people a year world-wide. As an industrial killer in Canada, more people die from its effects than all the industrial killers combined.
Yet despite these figures and despite the lobbying of virtually every relevant health organization in Canada and Quebec, the governments of Quebec and Canada have continued to actively support the single mine and its 400 employees, and promote sales abroad, especially in India. To add to the odds against stopping the export of asbestos, the union movement in Quebec has been doggedly supportive of the industry – and the two past presidents of the Quebec Federation of Labour have become President of the asbestos lobby group, the Chrysotile Institute (CI). The CI also receives funding from both the Quebec and federal governments – with Ottawa contributing at least $250,000 a year for over a decade.
But this week there were two huge breakthroughs. First, the federal government, after a concerted lobbying effort by some two dozen health organizations and agencies, including the conservative Canadian Cancer Society, has eliminated its annual funding for the organization as of March 31st. Secondly, and equally significant, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), which represents 300,000 unionized Quebec workers, announced it is withdrawing support for the industry. It called on the Quebec Liberal government not to provide a $58 million loan to investors planning to open a new mine which would provide a 25 year supply of abestos. The loan was quietly promised last year but has been in limbo due to the increasing controversy surrounding the issue.
The industry is not dead yet but these two reversals leave it on life support and its allies and supporters are diminishing. Those supporters began declining in number a couple of years ago as an intense campaign finally forced the Canadian Labour Congress, the federal NDP and the federal Liberal Party to come out against continued exports. All the main political parties in Quebec – federal and provincial – still support the industry.
The federal government, given its record of duplicitous behaviour on so many other issues, could still insert the $250,000 into supplemental estimates down the road. And the other labour federations in Quebec are still on side. The CSN is the most progressive group in the province and represents some 300,000 workers – but not those in the asbestos industry.
Yet the breaking of labour’s silence on this issue – and the embarrassment it has experienced internationally – suggests that the other Quebec labour federations may have to move soon as well. As Claudette Carbonneau, CSN President stated: “This [action] would, I think, honour those who have died and who struggled for health and safety, and remind us all that no worker’s life, whether Indian or Québécois, should be sacrificed in the name of a job.”
Carbonneau has informed her labour federation colleagues of the CSN’s decision: “There was no joy anywhere. But our position is not for a ban tomorrow. I stated very clearly our desire to work with them. They received it in a very civilized way and they appreciated that I warned them in advance.”
There is no indication that the federal government will support listing asbestos as a dangerous substance within the Rotterdam Convention, which meets this June. In every instance where efforts have been made to do so, Canada has been in the forefront of opposing such a move. And as the NDP’s Pat Martin (who once worked in an asbestos mine) points out the government has made more effort promoting asbestos than any other Canadian export – 160 trade junkets to 60 countries over the years.
But if Quebec labour and the Quebec government decide to cut the killer industry loose the Harper Conservatives may see no benefit in continuing to defend the indefensible
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If Stephen Harper thinks asbestos is safe for export, he should put it back in his home!
http://cupe.ca/asbestos/stephen-harper- ... afe-export
Jun 10, 2011 10:35 AM
Please take a minute to sign the petition at CanadaCausesCancer.com, (far right-hand side of page) calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to end Canada's production and export of asbestos.
PLEASE SHARE THIS EMAIL AND LINKS!
On June 20, the United Nations will vote to place an international ban on asbestos and Canada continues to refuse support to list chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous substance. Prime Minister Harper stands as the main obstacle to this global agreement.
We call on Prime Minister Harper to:
Join the United Nations in banning the production and export of asbestos worldwide.
Institute a just transition program for the 500 remaining asbestos workers and the communities they live in.
Asbestos kills 100,000 people every year by cancer and other deadly lung diseases. It is banned in 52 countries, including the European Union. The Canadian government has even removed it from Parliament and the Prime Minister's home.
So why is Canada still a leading exporter of asbestos to developing countries? Canada is the only G7 country still mining, producing and exporting this deadly substance!
Watch videos and learn more at:
www.CanadaCausesCancer.com.
This campaign is also available on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
For more information visit
cupe.ca/asbestos
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ACTION ALERT: Oppose Harper’s position on asbestos
http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=8288#more-8288
Friday, June 17th, 2011
The Canada Causes Cancer website says, "Asbestos causes cancer and other deadly lung diseases. That’s why asbestos has been banned in 52 nations, including the European Union. Not to mention, the Canadian government removed it from parliament and the Prime Minister’s home. Despite all this, Canada is still a leading exporter of asbestos to developing countries. Stephen Harper should ban it, or put it back in his home. On Monday June 20, the United Nations will vote to place an international ban on asbestos. Prime Minister Stephen Harper stands as an obstacle to this global agreement." [ . . . ]
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Exporting asbestos kills - it’s time to stop
From: Matthew Carroll - Leadnow.ca
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 3:21 PM
Subject: Exporting asbestos kills - it’s time to stop
Early next week, the United Nations is voting to ban asbestos, a substance responsible for causing lung cancers that kill millions of people. Canadians overwhelmingly support the ban, but our government is the only developed country trying to block an agreement that will save lives.
Prime Minister Harper knows that he is isolated, at home and abroad, and hopes that his government can get away with blocking the deal quietly. We need a major public outcry to make sure our government knows that Canadians are watching.
Over 4,500 Canadians have already sent messages through a campaign website set up by our friends at Truthfool. Please click on the link below to tell your MP that you support an asbestos ban and a just transition for the few remaining workers:
www.canadacausescancer.com
Asbestos is one of the biggest causes of workplace-related deaths in Canada, and globally it kills over 100,000 people every year.1,2 The US and Europe have banned asbestos. Canada has spent decades, and millions of dollars, removing asbestos from our homes, schools, and offices,3 yet we export thousands of tonnes overseas to countries like India, where it causes untold suffering.4,5
Health Canada scientists recommended in 2006 that chrysotile asbestos be classified as a hazardous substance, yet recently released documents show that the Harper government has consistently ignored the impartial advice of our public servants.6
Now is the time for Canada to leave this dying industry behind, and put in place a just transition program for the 500 remaining asbestos mine workers and the communities they live in. With only a few days left before the vote, please click this link to send a message to your MP:
www.canadacausescancer.com
For the health of our democracy, we need to push back on the idea that the election gave the Harper government the right to do whatever it wants, no matter how many Canadians disagree.
In moments like these, we have an opportunity to act together to hold our government accountable to a majority of Canadians. Just a few months ago there were only 700 of us, now we are over 20,000 strong.
Every time we act together we will inspire more and more Canadians to join our community and strengthen all of our voices.
With hope and respect,
Matthew, Jamie, Adam and the Leadnow.ca team
p.s. We only have a few days before the crucial UN vote to show Prime Minister Harper that Canadians support an end to Canada’s export of dangerous asbestos to developing countries - please forward this email to anyone you think would be interested.
References:
1 CBC - Asbestos drives rise in workplace deaths
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/200 ... estos.html
2 World Health Organization - Asbestos: elimination of asbestos-related diseases
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factshee ... index.html
3 CBC - Asbestos: The magic mineral that was once Canada's gold
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2009/06/10/
f-asbestos-safety.html
4 International Ban Asbestos Secretariat - India's Asbestos Time Bomb
http://ibasecretariat.org/india_asb_time_bomb.pdf
5 World Asbestos Report - Exporting Harm: How Canada Markets Asbestos to the Developing World
http://worldasbestosreport.org/articles ... /index.php
6 CBC - Health Canada's asbestos advice rejected by government
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/06/13/
asbestos-health-canada.html
Leadnow.ca is an independent, youth-led advocacy organization that helps Canadians of all generations participate in their democracy.
Support the Leadnow.ca community! You can donate online at:
http://www.leadnow.ca/en/donate
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Canada mocked in U.S. for asbestos 'hypocrisy'
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110701/
canada-mocked-asbestos-hypocrisy-110702/
July 4, 2011 Josh Visser, CTV.ca News Date: Saturday Jul. 2, 2011 5:30 PM ET
Just in time for the Canada Day weekend, a major U.S. online magazine is calling out Canada for its "breathtaking hypocrisy" for exporting asbestos while seeking to rid the product at home.
A recent Slate article decries how the Canadian government is spending millions to remove asbestos from three buildings on Parliament Hill, but opposed the addition of chrysotile asbestos to a United Nations hazardous industrial chemicals treaty last month.
The renovation of West Block in Ottawa will cost $873 million alone and is part of a $5-billion, two-decade plan to fix up Canada's Parliament buildings.
A public tender for a construction contract for West Block lists "full asbestos abatement of plaster, ceiling space overspray, fireproofing and wall voids" and the "encapsulation of inaccessible asbestos" as part of the project.
A late June conference in Geneva would have added asbestos to the UN treaty known as the Rotterdam Convention. Putting asbestos on that list would mean recipient countries would need to be warned of any health hazards associated with it and allows them to reject its import if they don't think they can handle the product safely.
But consensus was needed for the product to be added to the treaty and Canada, along with the few other countries that produce asbestos -- Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan -- blocked the motion.
Asbestos has long been linked to cancer. According to the World Health Organization, 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases. Many developed countries ban the product outright.
But the Canadian government insists the product can be used safely.
Canada has "promoted the safe and controlled use of chrysotile, both domestically and internationally," for more than 30 years, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's spokesperson Dmitri Soudas told The Canadian Press.
"All scientific reviews clearly confirm that chrysotile fibres can be used safely under controlled conditions," he said in an email.
But not all countries handle asbestos properly, as images show many workers in India don't follow regulations.
India is Canada's biggest trading partner for asbestos, taking in half of the 150,000 tonnes Canada exported annually in 2008 and 2009.
"What makes something safe for Indian workers but poisonous to Canadian politicians?" the Slate article asks. [ . . . ]
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Speak Out Against Asbestos
http://paper.li/
LHubich?utm_source=subscription&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=paper_sub
SIGN THE DECLARATION PETITION
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/
north-american-petition-to-eliminate-asbestos-related-diseases/
Press Release
Speak Out Against Asbestos: Sign the North American Declaration to Eliminate Asbestos-Related Disease Petition
The United States and Canada, along with other developed countries, are currently faced with a startling epidemic of asbestos-related disease. Over 10,000 Americans and 1,000 Canadians die every year from asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis, cancer, and mesothelioma. Yet, still, both the U.S. and Canadian governments allow asbestos to be used in some products and Canada continues to mine and export this deadly carcinogen around the world.
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and Canadian Voices of Asbestos Victims (CVAV), in unity with American and Canadian asbestos victims and families, unions, organizations, institutes, medical and occupational experts, and concerned citizens have come together to advocate for the elimination of asbestos-related diseases. The North American Declaration to Eliminate Asbestos-Related Disease unites these voices in a common plea, calling for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama to stop the use of asbestos and develop safer alternatives.
This is your chance to speak out against asbestos and its devastation! By signing the North American Declaration at petition you can make your voice heard and contribute to a future without asbestos-related diseases. Any petition information will remain private and is only used for the sole purpose of this petition.
SIGN THE PETITION TODAY!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/
north-american-petition-to-eliminate-asbestos-related-diseases/
NORTH AMERICAN DECLARATION
PRESS RELEASE: Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization and the Canadian Voices of Asbestos Victims announce the Release of the North American Declaration to Eliminate Asbestos-Related Diseases
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QUOTE: "Canada is the only western country that still exports deadly asbestos!" - Michaela Keyserlingk, widow of asbestos victim, Robert Keyserlingk
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Tories tussle with asbestos widow over logo
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/life/article/
942490--tories-tussle-with-asbestos-widow-over-logo--page0
ANDY BLATCHFORD Published: August 14, 2011 2:40 p.m. Last modified: August 14, 2011 2:49 p.m.
The federal Conservative party has sent a threatening email to the widow of an asbestos victim in the latest chapter of Canada's debate over the hazardous mineral.
A top Tory official is warning the woman to stop using the party logo in an online ad campaign against the controversial industry — a campaign she started after her husband died of an asbestos-related cancer.
Michaela Keyserlingk, whose husband Robert died in 2009 of mesothelioma, has been running an online banner since the spring that reads, "Canada is the only western country that still exports deadly asbestos!"
Conservative party executive director Dan Hilton warned Keyserlingk to stop using the Tory symbol immediately.
"Failure to do so may result in further action," Hilton wrote in a July 29 email which carried the subject title, "Unauthorized use of trademark." The email, which The Canadian Press obtained from Keyserlingk, went on to advise her: "Please govern yourself accordingly."
The exchange comes as Canada faces intensifying international criticism over its asbestos exports and the Quebec government mulls whether to help revive one of the country's last-remaining mines — a decision that could come as early as Monday.
Canada, which barely uses the hazardous material domestically, exports the bulk of its asbestos to poor countries.
Industry proponents insist the material is safe if properly handled — but its critics stress that the product is used mainly in developing countries where safety standards are haphazard.
A growing chorus of health experts, and people like Keyserlingk, want to see the industry shuttered for good.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, have steadfastly defended asbestos exports and insist they're safe when handled properly.
Keyserlingk's blurb, which she says appears randomly on Canadian web pages, is flanked with a "DANGER" warning label and an image of the Tories' official symbol: a blue letter C with a Maple Leaf. It also directs readers to her website.
"I just want to have the asbestos trade stopped because it's such a horrible death," said Keyserlingk, who doesn't belong to any organization and pays more than $300 per month for the ad out of her pocket.
"It's just so terrible — and to even contemplate doing that to other people is unforgivable."
When asked about the ad, the Conservative party stood its ground.
"The Conservative logo is a trademark of the Conservative Party of Canada and we do not allow its unauthorized use," party spokesman Fred DeLorey wrote in an email to The Canadian Press.
Hilton did not respond to requests for an interview.
As for Keyserlingk, she isn't ready to back down.
She said she'll only cancel the ad if a high-ranking member of the Conservative party meets with her to explain why it supports the industry. She would be happy to take the issue up with Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself — in person.
"I have no permission to use (the logo) and they have a legitimate argument against me... But on a human level they have no legitimacy whatsoever," the Ottawa resident said.
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End the Export of Canadian Cancer!
http://www.canadianasbestosexports.ca/Home
Canada is the only G8 country still mining and selling asbestos
This website collects examples of leading national and international scientific and popular opinions calling on the Canadian government to stop the mining and export of Canadian chrysotile asbestos to unprotected developing nations.
In every stage of its life cycle, asbestos promiscuously sheds tiny dust fibers. Once inhaled, the fibres become tangled in lung tissues, where they wreak a cancerous havoc - typically lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, the latter a rare, painful and terminal cancer of the lining of the chest wall.
MORE:
http://www.canadianasbestosexports.ca/Home
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Asbestos sector wants Ottawa's help to overturn WHO death-toll estimate.
The Canadian asbestos sector wants to challenge a death-toll estimate from the World Health Organization that says asbestos-related diseases kill more than 100,000 people every year. Canadian Press
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-a ... /sci_tech/
asbestos-sector-wants-ottawas-help-to-overturn-who-death-toll-estimate-140904503.html