Asbestos and Our Gov't Interference

[Boom Boom]

I knew the Cons and Libs are hopeless on this file, but I was shocked to read this:

"Another hold-out is Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc Quebecois. Most shameful of all is the entire Quebec labour movement, led (or bullied) by the Quebec Federation of Labour, which continues its complicity in the destruction of the lives of potentially thousands of Third World workers so it can maintain "solidarity" with the few hundred miners still working (at much reduced wages) in the sole remaining mine." :

[lagatta]

Yes, I used to work for the labour movement here, and we produced a lot of specious bullshit about "safe asbestos". Think we really wanted to believe it - normal to want to save jobs and communities, but the miners all died by the time they could get their pension. The father of a friend from Thetford Mines died of asbestosis as well.

Duceppe is very close to the labour movement - a good thing in most cases, of course, but iffy about this particular topic.

[Holly Stick]

About federal funding of asbestos climate change denialists

...The revelation comes as Canada's delegation struggles to avoid being cast as the villain at the Copenhagen climate conference, and environmentalists are urging the government to stop financing the group.

On its website, the Chrysotile Institute promotes a chapter that it says debunks the asbestos health-risk hoax from the 2007 book Scared to Death – From BSE to Global Warming: Why Scares Are Costing Us the Earth.

Ottawa has been frequently knocked by opponents for cutting cash to organizations that believe in fighting climate change...

[Toedancer]

Harper is giving multi-millions of taxpayer money to  Chrysotile Institute (a registered lobby group for the asbestos industry). I sent Harper/Iffy/Layton/Duceppe a letter asking do they think we're stupid regarding health and safety in other countries handling asbestos, using taxpayer money to export disease and death! Bas-Turds.  If you want there is a Petition, you can edit to your liking.
http://www.rightoncanada.ca/?p=741

[Alison]

Further to Toe's post on asbestos , from Kathleen Ruff:

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

Thanks.

ETA : Or to put it another way, why is Natural Resources giving money to Chrysotile to lobby Natural Resources with?

[Toedancer]

Liberal natural resources critic Geoff Regan said even with Liberal support, the motion would die because the Bloc won't support it. Besides, he said, even if the budget committee removed the line item, the government could put it back in, and call for a confidence vote on the budget, which could lead to an election, something Liberals clearly do not want right now.

"We don't want to play those games," Regan said.

He would not say how Liberals on the committee will vote on the motion if it comes to a vote when the committee reconvenes on Tuesday.

But he said Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has made it clear that "he believes chrysotile asbestos poses serious health risks." He said Liberals would rather see the $250,000 go toward economic diversification in asbestos mining towns like Asbestos and Thetford Mines, and toward retraining asbestos miners for other jobs.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Lob ... story.html

Well today is the day, so it is a bit late to send another letter to Iffy. This is his chance to separate himself and the party from the Cons. The meeting was at 9 this morning Alison, do you know if there was a vote or the outcome?

[Alison]

This morning's recorded vote at the Natural Resources Committee on Pat Martin's motion to remove a $250,000 government subsidy to Chrysotile Asbestos Institute : Defeated
.
Geoff Regan, Liberal - NO ............ Nathan Cullen, NDP - YES

Navdeep Bains, Liberal - NO ........ Cheryl Gallant, Con - NO

Alan Tonks, Liberal - NO ............. Richard Harris, Con - NO

Paule Brunelle, Bloc - NO ............ David Anderson, Con - NO

Mauril Bélanger, Liberal - NO ...... Bernard Genereux, Con - NO




Following the vote, Tonks and Harris both raised points of order to say that they felt personally "insulted" by Pat Martin's behavior during the vote.

The one remaining asbestos mine in Canada, second largest exporter of asbestos in the world, is in the riding of Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis.

ETA : Confidence vote? It's only a friggin amendment ferchrissakes.
Besides who really thinks the Cons would care for the optics of calling an election over their support for the asbestos industry?

[Toedancer]

It is now confirmed that Iggy is as morally repugnant as Harper is, two sides of the same coin, two peas in a pod, what's he going to say to the widow of a Canadian who died from exposure to asbestos that he would stand up to the industry? He can't bullshit anymore the substance needs more research. Between this and the fuck-up with the maternal health vote, This Is War!

[Alison]

Interestingly, India -- the prime importer -- finally removed its opposition to adding asbestos to the list.  If India is ready to start banning the import of asbestos from Canada then Canada's opinion on the matter becomes moot.

It isn't a ban, Magoo. It's a treaty to which the signatory countries assume responsibility for ensuring compliance with safe labelling of hazardous materials.
 
Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
 

• to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm;
• to contribute to the environmentally sound use of those hazardous chemicals, by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics, by providing for a national decision-making process on their import and export and by disseminating these decisions to Parties.

[Herr Magoo]

I know it's not an outright ban.  I followed one of the links that said:

Those countries could also then refuse asbestos imports if they didn't think they could handle the product safely.

... so if India is ready to refuse to import asbestos then, as I say, Canada's opinion on the matter becomes moot.
 
And personally, I think that's a better outcome than if Canada plays the White Man's Burden card and refuses to sell to India when India -- evidently -- wants to buy.

[Alison]

... so if India is ready to refuse to import asbestos then, as I say, Canada's opinion on the matter becomes moot.
 
And personally, I think that's a better outcome than if Canada plays the White Man's Burden card and refuses to sell to India when India -- evidently -- wants to buy.

India has no intention of banning Canadian asbestos, on which its manufacture of cheap building materials for the poor depends.
This is about governments agreeing on the resposibility of manufacturers of dangerous materials to 1)ensure they are labelled accordingly and 2) not sell to companies that violate minimum safety conditions.
And it has nothing to do with White Man's Burden - it's a partnership.
Honestly, Magoo, if the situation were reversed, would you want a job happily ripping open bags of asbestos with no protection because the hazards warning on the bags was written in Hindi or Urdu?

[Boom Boom]

Pat Martin was absolutely scathing in his condemnation of the asbestos industry on P&P tonight.
 
 
In other news, Harper will be visiting Thetford Mines tomorrow, to give support to the asbestos industry.

[Herr Magoo]

Honestly, Magoo, if the situation were reversed, would you want a job happily ripping open bags of asbestos with no protection because the hazards warning on the bags was written in Hindi or Urdu?

No, but were I to find myself in such a job, I would expect answers -- and change -- from my government.  I would assume that regardless of the language of the label, that my government should reasonably know what's in those bags, and take proper precautions if it's hazardous.
 
Isn't that how it works?

[Boom Boom]

  European Parliament to be asked to take sanctions against Canada on asbestos, June 30
 
excerpt:
 
A media release issued today by the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers and the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat says, “Calls will be made on June 30, 2011 that the European Union take sanctions against Canada for derailing a United Nations protocol to protect vulnerable populations from the hazards of asbestos.”
 
excerpt:
 
IBAS Coordinator Laurie Kazan-Allen, a member of the Rotterdam Convention Alliance, will be making a presentation in this regard to the European Parliament on June 30 starting at 2:30 pm. Kazan-Allen says, "Canada is now a rogue state and should be dealt with in the same way as other administrations which have breached the acceptable level of behaviour expected of civilized societies. ...Canadian Government documents I am bringing to Brussels will prove to Members of the European Parliament that Ottawa had received recommendations from its own advisors to list chrysotile under the Rotterdam Convention. That they chose not to do so with the full knowledge of the tragic consequences is a sin of unpardonable proportions."

[Boom Boom]

No, but were I to find myself in such a job, I would expect answers -- and change -- from my government.  I would assume that regardless of the language of the label, that my government should reasonably know what's in those bags, and take proper precautions if it's hazardous.
 
Isn't that how it works?

There is an active and influential Asbestos Disinformation Campaign in India. (2001)
 
excerpt:
 
Few studies of asbestos exposed victims have been undertaken and there is no central registry for mesothelioma. Lack of such data makes things difficult for those fighting the disinformation campaign of asbestos lobby. The enforcement departments including those of labour and mines, lack the expertise to measure airborne concentration of asbestos accurately. Besides, industry is close to policy makers, which further makes life difficult for those working towards achieving a ban on asbestos.
An Asbestos Information Centre has been active in India and is located in Delhi. In past, it has held meetings and conferences where pro industry scientists were invited who underplayed the risks created by Chrysotile asbestos. In one of the conferences, International Labour Office was a co-sponsor.
 
excerpt:
 
There are several constraints in implementing the strict surveillance for asbestos exposed workers. Large number of small scale units spread far and wide in the country with scant resources and lack of will to implement health and safety measures at work, makes protection of workers difficult. Moreover, the construction workers remain unsupervised. The IAOH is an influential organization but remains dominated by pro industry physicians who are opposed to criticizing industry for its poor record. Academic base of occupational medicine is weak. It was expected that physicians working in academic departments are outside the influence of industry and can take a strong position against asbestos lobby. Even trade unions have not raised the issue of asbestos enthusiastically.
 
The picture in India with regard to asbestos use and exposure remains grim and alarming. Asbestos exposure is causing a "Disaster in Slow Motion" but is not visible as no records are maintained, and enforcement remains on paper. It is not difficult to imagine the outcome of such a scenario. In the final analysis, asbestos exposure will claim many times more lives than the Methyl Isocynate exposure in Bhopal in 1984 did. Due to the lack of will of stakeholders, it is only an international effort that can force the asbestos lobby to mend its ways and to generate a sustained pressure on the government to ban asbestos use in India as has been done by many countries.
 
(I doubt the situation has improved since 2001 - according to what I heard Pat Martin say several times on CBC, it's as bad as ever)
 
Canada has been for decades taking advantage of the fact that the asbestos industry is virtually impossible to ban in India because the industry is so close to policy makers there. We should be ashamed.