Asbestos-related disease is on the rise in Canada, and Department of National Defence (DND) workers and civilians are getting sick due to exposure to the hazardous material in their surroundings, says NDP MP Pat Martin.
Martin says that while asbestos is banned in over 40 countries, including the European Union, Japan and Australia, Canada continues to produce and export it, despite international and national efforts to ban asbestos production and usage.
"Canada should hang its head in shame," says Martin. "We use tax dollars and foreign missions to host pro-asbestos conferences [in third world countries]. We also undermine the efforts of other countries to ban asbestos."
In DND's case, asbestos was used mainly for fire proof purposes in cement and insulation in military buildings and submarines. It was also used in house materials throughout Canada as recently as the 1990s.
According to Bob Sass, Chair of the Ban Asbestos Saskatchewan Committee, Canada is the second largest producer and exporter of asbestos. Canada produces 200,000 tons of asbestos per year, 97 per cent of which is exported to third world countries, such as India, Thailand and Indonesia. These countries have no regulatory system to monitor the safe use of the hazardous material.
"We are exporting it like crazy, while the rest of the world says "no". This is absolutely morally and ethically reprehensible on the part of Canadian government, to impose this legacy of exporting human misery and disease to these under developed countries where health and safety standards are either poor or non-existing "says Martin.
In April 2006, Martin introduced a motion in the House of Commons to ban the mining, production, sale, use and export of asbestos and its products. A crusader against asbestos for many years, Martin earlier this year received an award for his work at the third annual Asbestos Disease Awareness Day conference in Philadelphia.
At an international day of action on work-related injuries and deaths in Washington DC in April, a protest was held at the Canadian Embassy against Canada's continued export of asbestos. The World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization have called on all countries to ban the use of asbestos products.
This summer, Canada will spend $1 billion to remove asbestos from the Parliament buildings in Ottawa. It is estimated that about 100,000 people worldwide die each year due to asbestos related diseases.
"More people die from asbestos related diseases than any other occupational diseases," says Martin. "Not only people who work in asbestos mines, but also their families are at risks from second hand exposure to asbestos fibres."
Martin, who used to be an asbestos miner, says that last year the government introduced new regulations for the use of asbestos, allowing it to be used in children's toys, learning devices, crayons, dry wall compounds and spray-on insulations—practices that have been "condemned universally, except in Canada."
"Many people think that asbestos is banned in Canada," says Kyla Sentes, whose father died of asbestosis. "Many people think this is something we fixed in the 1980's but in fact many schools, public buildings and homes in Canada have asbestos in them."
Asbestos mining has been shut down everywhere in Canada except in Quebec. There are about 800 miners working in the asbestos mines in Quebec and the province has the highest rate of cancer in Canada, according to Sass. The privately owned asbestos industry is making an estimated $97 million per year.
"It is about Quebec politics. No Canadian government has the political courage to close down these mines," says Martin. "This is about emotions and pure politics. The asbestos industry is part of the national pride in Quebec"
The most common disease associated with asbestos is mesothelioma which can take 20 years to develop. It is a deadly disease, where the victims are given about 6 months to live after diagnosis. Asbestos can also cause colon and throat cancer as well as asbestosis, which results in scarring and hardening of the lungs.
"Those who were diagnosed with mesothelioma suffered unendurable pain, so much so, that their families will pray for their death to bring about relief for their loved ones," says Sass, who has worked with victims and their families on a one-on-one basis, providing information and helping them get compensation.
"All kinds of asbestos are carcinogenic and the only way to deal with it is to ban it," says Sass.
According to Sentes' experience with her father's illness, the medical professionals were "clueless about this issue," and private health insurance in many cases manages to get out of paying the victims. "It was quite a struggle to get compensation," she says.
"Somebody needs to be held accountable for these kinds of murders. It is basically corporate murder, and is 100 percent preventable," says Sentes, whose farther suffered for 25 year with asbestosis.
For the record: Although Kyla Sentes' father was misdiagnosed by his initial doctor, and in her view many doctors in general are "clueless" about asbestos-related diseases, Ms. Sentes' father was fortunate enough to have a very knowledgeable doctor for the remainder of his life. In addition, while in general it can be a struggle for asbestos victims to get compensation, the difficulties are related more to public insurance through Worker's Compensation Boards rather than for those with private insurance.
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