Canada tosses in the towel on defending asbestos

Canada tosses in the towel on defending asbestos by The Canadian Press, September 14, 2012
THETFORD MINES, Que. – The Canadian government has tossed in the towel and will stop fighting international efforts to list asbestos as a hazardous substance, dealing a momentous blow to a once-mighty domestic industry that is now on the verge of extinction. The announcement was made Friday by Industry Minister Christian Paradis, who hails from the asbestos belt and is one of the industry’s staunchest defenders. He said the government will no longer oppose efforts to include asbestos to the UN’s Rotterdam treaty on hazardous materials. … Two of the parties in the Quebec legislature, including the new Parti Quebecois government, have called exports of the substance immoral given its links to cancer. … Defenders of asbestos say the substance, especially the chrysotile form mined in Quebec, can be safe if handled and stored properly. [Emphasis added]