O Canada, Hang Your Head In Shame!

Sometimes in today's economy it can seem like every job is worth saving. I have to argue that point. Is it worth saving the jobs at Jeffrey Asbestos Mine in Quebec? I thought we had all pretty much learned that asbestos was not a great idea. Asbestos abatement is a multi million dollar industry after all! However, the Quebec provincial government seems to disagree! On Canada Day weekend, the government loaned $58 million to a private equity firm to reopen the mine. The firm, called Balcorp Ltd., have struggled to raise the funds to reopen the mine, and it's pretty clear to me why that is! What I don't understand is what the hell Quebec are thinking? The Canadian Prime Minister surely has the power to stop this move, after all a massive project is under way this summer to remove asbestos from both parliament and the Prime Minister's residence and asbestos is not used anywhere in Canada. However, it seems that although it is not fit for Canadians, they are perfectly happy to ship it out to developing countries such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam for cheap and fire resistant roofing and rot proof water lines!


Many are citing the fact that the Industry Minister Christian Paradis is from the small town of Asbestos (I'm not kidding!) where Jeffery Mine is located and the Prime Minister does not want to cause ill feeling within the political party. Never mind the fact that around 100,000 people die every single year from Asbestos exposure. Many Canadians feel the reopening is a disgrace and so they should. Sorry Quebec but even spinning it as creating 400 jobs is not going to make this seem like a good idea!


Around 55 countries world wide have banned asbestos entirely and even in Canada it is not used. Yv Bonnier Viger, head of Quebec's association of public health said, “Quebec Premier Jean Charest is relaunching the exploitation of an extremely dangerous material that will cause the suffering and death of thousands of people in poor countries, at only marginal benefit to a desperate community.”


Shame on you Canada.