The documentary “Fatal Deception” on CBC Television's The National on February 12 detailed how an institute set up by the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association paid professor John Corbett McDonald and other researchers at Montreal's McGill University at least $1 million between 1966 and 1972 for research on the health impacts of chrysotile asbestos. . . . The documentary suggests the questionable research is still being used by the industry and the federal and Quebec governments to justify Canada's continued involvement in asbestos production and export.
These links will take you to a number of articles from recent months:
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-McGill’s Conclusion on its Ties to Asbestos Industry: Historian’s Response ActiveHistory.ca May 16
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-It’s time for McGill to stop colluding with the asbestos industry Prevent Cancer Now May 14
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-Internal review on asbestos research is inconclusive The McGill Tribune Apr 4
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-Asbestos Review Lacks Required Records The McGill Daily Apr 4
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-Prelim review of retired prof McDonald's ties to asbestos industry inconclusive The Gazette Apr 3
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-McGill University: Evidence of asbestos industry influence RightOnCanada Apr 3
Media Links 2012
Last up dated May 17, 2012
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Disclaimer
We endeavour to provide links to beneficial information related to mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. However, the links to stories in the media listed below are provided as resource information only; this is only a handful of asbestos-related media stories. We have not vetted information in these stories, nor do we endorse the opinions expressed. Please properly vet all information that you obtain online and read all website disclaimers. For any medical advice, consult your family physician or medical specialists.
Continued Fallout from CBC’s February 2012 Documentary: “Fatal Deception”
The Canadian Red Cross on Friday rallied behind a board member who was criticized for having ties to the asbestos industry, calling the Montrealer a "valued member" of the team.
Anti-asbestos campaigners reacted by calling for the resignation of board president Ted Tanaka "for betraying asbestos victims and the very mission of the Red Cross."
The international trade union movement has been fighting for years for a global ban on asbestos so as to protect workers and populations, especially in Asia. As the trade union aid organisation says in the article below, they have to confront a particularly shameful enemy, Canada. That is to say, Jeffrey Mine Inc and LAB Chrysotile Inc in Quebec. Both companies are closed down and bankrupt, but hope to re-launch themselves and export millions of tons of asbestos to Asia, with financial and political help from their powerful political friends, PM Harper, Premier Charest and Industry Minister Christian Paradis.
Former miners who worked at asbestos mines at Roro, India, owned and run by Hyderabad Industry Limited, are dying in large numbers. Abhaya Shanker, who is managing director of Hyderabad Industries Limited and a powerful industrialist in India, says “It’s all bullshit.” Hyderabad Industries has for years been a prime client of the Quebec asbestos companies, Jeffrey Mine and LAB Chryostile. Shanker asserts that Quebec’s asbestos does not cause cancer.
Speaking of the people dying at Roro, environmental activist, Madhumita Dutta states: “This is damning evidence about their irresponsibility and it’s criminal negligence”.
With the help of aggressive media marketing, asbestos is the number one roofing material in the island . . . Contrary to the common belief that only workers handling asbestos are at risk, studies show that asbestos is carried through the air and inhaled by unsuspecting victims . . . Dr. Yakandawala said, “Sri Lankan hospitals do not have the facilities and doctors do not have the training to effectively diagnose asbestos related diseases – this is a major issue in this country”.
“This is a straight bankruptcy and the company is no longer financially viable in its present form,” CEO Simon Dupéré said. “I can’t discuss the financial details, but our ultimate goal is to restart operations under a new structure at the former production rate of 125,000 tonnes a year.”
The “miracle fibre” that helped drive Quebec's economy for more than a century now represents an industry near death, despite government efforts to keep it afloat . . . Proponents insist it has a glowing future in global markets, despite growing international pressure on the Canadian and Quebec governments to cease financial and political backing of the industry amid mounting evidence of asbestos’s health hazards.
Anti-asbestos activists in Canada are working hard to get the government to heed calls to eradicate Canada's asbestos mining and export industries. They're making some headway and urge more entities to get involved, including occupational health and safety professionals.
Interview with Stacy Cattran about Roshi Chadha, a Canadian Red Cross board member. Roshi Chadha is an active asbestos trader in her own right and although the last two asbestos mines in Canada are bankrupt and shutdown, Roshi and Baljit Chadha are trying to re-start it.
A Montrealer with ties to the asbestos industry has resigned abruptly from the governing body of the Canadian Red Cross after the humanitarian group rallied behind her as a "valued member" of its team. A second board member, Peter Robinson of the David Suzuki Foundation, also resigned over the weekend after the Red Cross expressed its support for Roshi Chadha on Friday.
The department of transportation tied up the spare ferry for the Islands in early January while contractors "covered up" asbestos on the boat. The Islands ferry service was without a back-up boat from Jan. 6 to Jan. 11 this year after a crew member raised questions about some material on board. Department spokesman Steve Smith says lab tests confirmed that samples from the Spray contained asbestos..
Most Canadians would be surprised to know that the Canadian government allows children’s toys to contain chrysotile asbestos, if the asbestos cannot become separated as a result of “a reasonably foreseeable use”.
QUESTION: What child do you know who always makes a “reasonably foreseeable use” of her/his toys?
The Canadian government also allows asbestos to be in clothing that provides protection from fire or heat, certain drywall products, and spraying products, even though all asbestos is carcinogenic.
Video Clip - Superb lead item on Montreal CBC News on how asbestos victims are challenging asbestos exporter Roshi Chadha and calling for her to be removed from the board of McGill University and St Mary’s Hospital, a teaching hospital affiliated with McGill.
The story is in the first few minutes of the half hour news show.
The owner of a company that exposed workers to asbestos during home demolitions has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for contempt of a court order. The sentence imposed on Arthur Moore of Surrey-based AM Environmental by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Richard Goepel came after Moore ignored a restraining order to stop putting workers as young as 14 at risk of exposure to the deadly substance.
A descendant of one of the earliest pioneers of Quebec’s storied asbestos industry has publicly joined the movement to stop Canadian production and export of the deadly mineral. Despite her family’s history, Henry has now put her name to a letter-writing campaign, launched by the David Suzuki Foundation in November, calling for an end to Canada’s involvement in the asbestos trade.
Researchers report that textile workers in North Carolina and South Carolina who were exposed to asbestos had significantly increased incidence of lung cancer.
Asbestos exporter Roshi Chadha announced Wednesday she is taking a leave of absence from her positions on McGill University’s board of governors and on the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation’s board of directors, in response to pressure from anti-asbestos activists.
A major 40-year study on asbestos safety completed by a group of scientists at McGill University is flawed, lacks transparency and contains manipulated data says Dr. David Egilman, a professor at Brown University, health activist and longtime industry critic.
Roshi Chadha and Silvano Mossano have very different takes on the asbestos reality of the 21st century. Chadha, a Canadian asbestos promoter, is linked to an aggressive campaign to pour millions of tax dollars into the development of new asbestos mining resources in Quebec. Italian journalist Mossano, the wife of a man dying from asbestos cancer, is otherwise engaged; her professional career has been dominated by efforts to expose her country’s asbestos scandal.
Arthur Moore, a demolition contractor, repeatedly and intentionally exposed his employees to asbestos without their knowledge and without protection. He fraudulently completed forms and submitted false reports, certifying asbestos as not being present when it was. As a result, he will spend 60 days in prison but carry no criminal record. Moore’s light sentence and the lack of criminal charges in this case raise serious and troubling questions about workplace health and safety in BC, and about the value the law and the Crown places on the lives of workers..
The documentary “Fatal Deception” on CBC Television's The National on Thursday detailed how an institute set up by the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association paid professor John Corbett McDonald and other researchers at Montreal's McGill University at least $1 million between 1966 and 1972 for research on the health impacts of chrysotile asbestos. . . . The documentary suggests the questionable research is still being used by the industry and the federal and Quebec governments to justify Canada's continued involvement in asbestos production and export.
This documentary has generated significant interest in the asbestos issue and ties to the McGill community. These links will take you to a number of articles that followed on from the airing of the documentary:
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-McGill responds to charges it's in bed with asbestos industry Montreal Gazette Feb 3, 2012
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-Debating asbestos: critics pressuring McGill (video 2m18s) CBC News Feb 3, 2012
- Ties to asbestos industry prompt censure of McGill Montreal Gazette Feb 3, 2012
- McGill to conduct preliminary review The Gazette Feb 10, 2012
- Opposition to asbestos reaches ‘critical mass’ The Gazette Feb 10, 2012
- McGill may cause cancer The McGill Daily Feb 12, 2012
- Debate on asbestos marks Senate session McGill Reporter Feb 16, 2012
- McGill review of asbestos research criticized McGill Daily Feb 18, 2012
Documentary: “Fatal Deception” and Continued Fallout February, 2012
The Occupational & Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI) urged the Prime Minister to urgently ban use of Asbestos products in India. The letter follows an online petition launched seeking opinions from across the world. The petition has been signed by hundreds of individuals from across the globe.
The Quebec government continues to favour a relaunch of the asbestos industry – despite a storm of recent controversy, including groundbreaking criminal convictions of two European businessmen for causing thousands of asbestos-related deaths, and far-reaching concerns about the research upon which the province bases its pro-asbestos policy.
An Ontario woman whose husband died due to a painful asbestos-related illness brought her crusade against the mined mineral to Ottawa on Thursday. Margaret Buist, 73, of Sarnia, has launched a postcard campaign to urge federal and provincial leaders to stop "promoting" the production of crysotile asbestos.
Here’s the run-down on how Canada got the job done to keep chrysotile asbestos (mined in Quebec and exported to India and other developing countries) off Annex III. Such a listing requires “Prior Informed Consent” before countries can export it, meaning importing countries are informed of the hazards and can refuse it if they believe they can’t handle it safety. Consensus is needed for any listing, so any one country party to the convention can stymie a listing.
Lisette Lapointe, wife of former Parti Québécois premier Jacques Parizeau, who now sits in the Quebec legislature as an independent, used her lack of party ties Thursday to present a motion calling on the province to withdraw its offer to finance the reopening of Quebec’s only remaining asbestos mine. . . “They refused to support our motion.”
In Turin, Italy, a criminal court issued its guilty verdict in the criminal trial of Stephan Schmidheiny and Belgian baron Louis de Cartier for creating an environmental disaster that has claimed over 3,000 lives. The prosecutor had asked the 3-judge panel to sentence the defendants to 20 years each in jail - they got 16 years each instead.
This trial has generated significant media interest around the globe. These links will take you to a number of articles that followed the guilty verdict:
- Italian court convicts 2 in asbestos-linked deaths Business Week Feb 13
- Guilty Verdict in First Ever Criminal Trial of Asbestos Magnate NRDC Switchboard Blog Feb 13
- Canadian asbestos industry reacts to conviction of European execs Winnipeg Free Press Feb 13
- Martin condemns asbestos proponents to face justice in hell CBC News Feb 14
Guilty Verdict in Precedent Setting Asbestos Criminal Trial February 2012
There are many public buildings across Canada that have building products contain asbestos. That means millions of Canadians are in government owned buildings that are filled with the toxic substance. There is now a push for government to establish a Canadian Asbestos Registry.
- Asbestos registry needed, says cancer patient Howard Willems, Saskatoon CBC News Feb 28, 2012
Call for Canadian Asbestos Registry February 2012
A leading industry player says the estimate by the WHO, the United Nations health authority, is an exaggeration based on unfounded evidence. . . A senior official for the WHO says the organization stands by its estimate that asbestos-related diseases – such as certain forms of lung cancer – kill more than 107,000 people around the world each year. Ivan Ivanov says that estimate is based on data from published scientific research.
Canada is cited as one of the major exporters of asbestos — along with Russia and China — to Vietnam. WikiLeaks cable says health and safety standards inadequate to protect Vietnamese workers.
Laurie Kazan-Allen, the coordinator of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, says asbestos should not be used in places like Vietnam because they are prone to earthquakes and tsunamis.
A network of shoddy, dangerous contractors and consultants continue to unsafely remove asbestos and put workers at risk, according to WorkSafeBC. The agency estimates 300 homes are demolished each month in the Lower Mainland and many built prior to the mid-1990s contain asbestos. Those violators remain a major priority because disease from asbestos exposure has become a major source of workplace fatalities.
Opposition politician Amir Khadir said Friday that a credible source has told him that financial institutions refused to provide a critical loan to the company trying to relaunch Quebec's Jeffrey Mine. . . . the public-relations battle has been devastating for the industry, Coulombe admitted in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
Residents in the northern Manitoba town of Gillam are demanding answers after tonnes of debris from Northern Ontario containing asbestos arrived to be buried in their town dump. The sizable bags of waste -- some which appear ripped or torn -- have tags warning the material contains asbestos and is dangerous due to the cancer and lung disease hazard it could pose..
It's an unlikely match, but a green chemistry institute is thriving in the old headquarters of a Canadian mine in a sign that the former world capital of asbestos is diversifying. . . Despite the success of its economic diversification and the risks associated with asbestos, Thetford Mines officials are adamant about relaunching the Lake Asbestos Mine, which once employed 350 workers.
“The Canadian Cancer Society urges the government to divulge all the information on buildings containing asbestos, homes, public offices, and schools,” Demers, Director of Public Issues of the Canadian Cancer Society, says. “So far, we’re disappointed because the government has not yet provided Canadians with this information to determine if they, their families, or work colleagues, have been exposed.”.
There have been some suspect Canadian mining ventures over the years. But none were probably as sketchy — or as unhealthy — as this one.
The provincial government of Quebec is doggedly trying to lure investors to reopen the Jeffrey Mine in lovely, pitted, Asbestos, Quebec. It was closed last year for financial reasons after a cave-in. Quebec’s leader has been trying to find money to kick-start the mine for over a year, in fact. So far, investors have stayed away.
Students at the University of Calgary expressed fears about the state of their classrooms after the school said it received complaints related to asbestos removal. The university conducted air quality testing in Craigie Hall last week after the CBC reported on the death of Amelia Labbe, an employee with the Spanish centre who died of pulmonary fibrosis in November.
The head of Quebec’s public health institute says its recent recommendations to improve public safety regarding exposure to asbestos are based on science, and its scientists are not biased against chrysotile asbestos as an industry representative claims.
Most mechanics contacted by CBC News believed that asbestos was already banned from brake pads years ago. But figures from Statistics Canada show that more than $2.6 million worth of asbestos brake pads entered the country in 2011. An Ontario MPP will table a bill this week that if passed would be the first in Canada to block imports of asbestos brake pads from entering the Canadian market.
- Asbestos in brakes: One community's struggle
Asbestos in Brake Pads Causes a Deadly Environment for Mechanics CBC News Mar 20, 2012
Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital has a screening program that utilizes CT scans to monitor the lung health of workers who have been exposed to asbestos. The tiny fibres get lodged in the lungs causing deadly diseases that typically take 20 to 40 years to show up. It is the only screening program of its kind in North America; they are looking for mesothelioma a painful, terminal cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs. The deadly damage caused by asbestos has not yet peaked; there are about 400 new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed in Canada every year.
McGill professor Bruce Case has vowed that the CBC will face “consequences” for how he was depicted in a documentary on the University’s ties to the asbestos industry broadcast last month. In an interview with The Daily, Case accused the CBC of “deliberate misrepresentation and bias.” “And, believe me, there will be consequences,” he said.
Canada doesn't have current numbers. Researchers at CAREX Canada are trying to put together the pieces. By linking exposure to carcinogens in various industries, the B.C.-based research initiative is flagging which employees might be at risk.
Rev. Michel Dubord, rector at St. John the Baptist Anglican Church in Richmond, has undertaken on his own to hold a series of silent vigils protesting Canada's policy to export asbestos. These silent vigils will be happening every Wednesday in April from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Memorial Park at the corner of Perth Street and McBean Street in Richmond. Everyone concerned about this issue is encouraged to attend these silent vigils of protest.
FLSmidth, a global engineering firm based in Copenhagen, is being accused of the deaths of hundreds of Cypriot miners who worked at an asbestos mine the company used to own and run, Copenhagen Post reported. The relatives of those who have died are now threatening to sue FLSmidth for allowing the miners to work without any protection in full knowledge that asbestos can be lethal to breathe in.
Four insurance companies have been fighting to minimise payouts to 6,000 families who have a member who has died or is suffering from mesothelioma, a cancer resulting from exposure to asbestos. Once the court rules against the insurers, the compensation bill could be in excess of £600m. If you include future claims that will be brought, up to 25,000 families could be affected by the ruling, pushing the potential bill to £5bn.
The two remaining asbestos mines in Quebec have been shut down since last fall. A Canadian investor is trying to raise $25 million to re-open it.
Listen to this excellent interview with anti-asbestos activist Kathleen Ruff. She explains Canada’s role in the asbestos industry and the responsibility that all Canadians have to prevent future mining and exporting of this deadly mineral.
PARIS — Already facing heightened risks of cancer, asbestos workers also run a greater danger of heart disease and stroke, a British study published on Tuesday said.
Researchers looked into more than 15,000 deaths that occurred among nearly 99,000 workers in the British asbestos industry between 1971 and 2005.
Asia is heading for a huge jump in asbestos-related diseases in the coming decades, according to numerous scientific studies and two of the world’s most prominent experts on public health and asbestos exposure. Not surprisingly, the consequences are expected to be felt most severely in India and China, two emerging economies and most populous countries in the world.
The head of Jeffrey mine is denying rumours that the layoff of 50 workers for the month of April is being caused by potential investors backing out.
Even though asbestos is banned in over 50 countries, Canada continues to block international efforts to control its use, financially supporting asbestos industry spin doctors, and promoting the continued trade of this toxic, cancer-causing, substance to the developing world — despite it being effectively banned in Canada. Managing editor David Donovan reports on a nation that has become an international pariah through what some have described as its “racist” double-standards.
If you want an excellent (albeit rather lengthy) summary of Canada’s involvement in the asbestos industry, you have to check out this. It has lots of excellent links and video clips.
At CFUW’s 2010 AGM we adopted a policy resolution calling on the Government of Canada to ban the mining, use and export of chrysotile asbestos. Despite several attempts on the part of CFUW National, and many leading health associations, the Government of Canada has not yet been persuaded to ban asbestos.
The effects of long years of exposure to asbestos is still one of the biggest challenges faced by British Columbia’s workers today, and it is expected to continue to be a problem in this decade.
This was according to Donna Wilson, vice-president for industrial service and sustainability for WorkSafeBC, the province’s workers’ compensation board
Founders of “A Walk to Remember the Victims of Asbestos” call for a public inquiry into the purposeful misinformation campaign and industry cover-ups that have led to the deaths of thousands of Canadians from asbestos.
A Walk to Remember Victims of Asbestos, September 29, 2012 in Sarnia, Ontario
An organization dedicated to raising awareness about issues surrounding asbestos is planning a first annual walk. Walk for Truth—Asbestos Kills 2012 will take place on Sunday, June 10 in Powell River. The AREA (Asbestos-related Research, Education and Advocacy) Fund is hosting the event to honour asbestos victims and to raise awareness of the asbestos issue..
2012 Walk for Truth—Asbestos Kills will take place Sunday, June 10 in Powell River, BC
Stacey Cattran wants the federal government to launch an inquiry into asbestos deaths in Canada, but she’s not expecting the Conservative government to agree. . . . Public inquiries are notoriously expensive. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which met from August 1991 to November 1996 - the longest royal commission ever - spent a staggering $60 million of public money. Cattran knows that is a draw back to the public but she says the federal government could use the money it now spends on supporting and promoting the industry.
The Canadian Labour Congress welcomes news that the Chrysotile Institute, a pro-asbestos lobby group, that has received funding from the federal and Quebec governments, will dissolve and cease operation. . . overwhelming expert evidence indicates that asbestos is a well-known carcinogen and that no safe use exists. Canada is a major producer of asbestos and all of this country’s exports go to developing countries, including Bangladesh, India and Indonesia. This consumption will lead to a pandemic of asbestos related diseases in developing countries.
A group of ailing, former shipyard workers in Marystown, Newfoundland and Labrador is taking on the provincial government over asbestos. The town has a proud history of fishing and shipbuilding, but nearly 60 people there have already died or are dying from asbestos-related cancer. While some have been compensated — many have not, and they're afraid they'll die before they see any money.
A decades-old pro-asbestos lobby group, currently funded by the Quebec government, will be shutting its doors after notifying the federal government of its plan to dissolve. . . . “I see it as a real tipping point in the movement to get Canada out of the asbestos industry,” Pat Martin said. “It’s just another demonstration of the death rattle of the asbestos industry in this country.”
For the first time in National Magazine Awards history, a single article has been nominated in 5 different categories: "Where Asbestos is Just a Fact of Life" by John Gray and Stephanie Nolan (Report on Business) is nominated in the categories Politics & Public Interest, Business, Health & Medicine, Investigative Reporting, and Science, Technology & the Environment.
Rev. Dubord, while rector at St. John the Baptist Anglican Church in Richmond, has undertaken this protest campaign on his own, holding a series of silent vigils first in Richmond and now in Stittsville. He views the campaign as a personal matter of advocacy, not particularly associated with his parish although the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa is taking steps to raise its concerns against the export of asbestos by Canada.
Half a century after the first wave of lawsuits were filed for illnesses linked to exposure to asbestos and 40 years after new regulation sharply curtailed use of the insulating and fire-resistant mineral, the asbestos-litigation business is booming. . . . Meanwhile, the dozens of trusts set up by companies forced into bankruptcy by asbestos liabilities are facing such heavy claims that many are paying only a few cents on the dollar. Some have had to suspend settlements. That has created inequality among victims.
HRiel, now retired from GE and a city councillor, isn’t surprised that in the years since the WSIB has paid out on more than 100 claims from GE workers and their survivors. He told The Examiner he thought the number should be higher. “Hopefully the people, and widows, are getting what they deserve,” Riel said. Aileen Hughes can only shake her head about the scope of the illnesses. Hughes’s husband, Morris, died from mesothelioma in September 2003.
