Posted on October 17, 2018

In 2011, Canada successfully closed the last of its asbestos mines. In 2016, it was announced that the Canadian Government would begin to draft a new asbestos ban that would prohibit the ‘manufacture, use, import, and export’ of asbestos-containing products by 2018. Today, Canada takes its next critical step forward in the fight against asbestos by announcing the regulations it will use to enforce its landmark asbestos ban. As Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, “This is a critical step on the long road to banning asbestos, and will, without a doubt, save lives for generations to come.” 

Canada has long produced the known carcinogen to feed demand domestically and in the United States—which has been one of the largest importers of Canadian asbestos—and it is no stranger to the devastating impacts asbestos has on human health. Dr. Barry Castleman said, “Remarkable that 20 years ago Canada was the world’s leading asbestos exporter and went to World Trade Organization (WTO) to block national bans.  Just 7 years ago, Canada blocked the inclusion of chrysotile under the Rotterdam Convention. Congratulations to the determined work by our people in Canada and around the world who have brought this ban about.” The struggle for this victory was hard fought, and I am happy that the Canadian Government continues to make progress on the road to eradicating the threat of asbestos.

Unfortunately, pomp and circumstance may be premature. As noted by the Canadian Press, “Canada’s ban on the import, sale, and use of asbestos will not prevent companies in Quebec from sifting through the waste left over from decades of mining asbestos to look for magnesium.” Additionally, the new regulation will create exemptions for the Chlor-Alkali industry, which uses diaphragms containing asbestos in the manufacture of chlorine and sodium hydroxide. The exemption will allow the Chlor-Alkali industry to continue importing and using processed asbestos fibers in its diaphragms until 2030.   

ADAO voiced its concerns about the exemptions in a letter to the Canadian Government this past March when it was only considering a seven-year exemption. I am disappointed to see that the government not only approved the exemption but added an additional three years. Canada itself stated that it “estimated that asbestos was responsible for approximately 1,900 lung cancer cases and 430 mesothelioma cases in Canada in 2011.” This exemption can only make matters worse.

However disappointing these exemptions are, the ban Canada has proposed is indeed more than the United States or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have done since its own ban on asbestos was struck down by Federal Courts in 1991. Perhaps asbestos expert, Kathleen Ruff said it best: “Activists, asbestos victims, health experts, workers, and their families and unions across Canada and around the world who have worked hard for so long to get asbestos banned everywhere will be celebrating that finally, Canada is banning asbestos. The ban is not perfect, and monitoring and advocacy will continue to be necessary. But it is an important and historic step in the struggle for a global asbestos ban.”

Alec Farquhar, Coordinator, Asbestos Free Canada, also said, “For us in Canada this is such a special day. Canada played such a terrible role for all these years and finally we are turning the page.  There is still much work to do addressing the legacy of asbestos here, and also to have Canada play an active progressive role in the international work.”

I join Barry, Kathleen and Alec in looking forward to a future where one day, asbestos exposure will be a thing of the past in North America and across the globe. As we celebrate this historic moment for Canada, the ADAO team remains dedicated to ensuring a U.S. asbestos ban without loopholes and exemptions follows.

Together, change is possible.

Linda Reinstein
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