Canada's Mining Corporations Exporting Death

This is a re-post of a piece on Facebook by Occupy Canada

Corporate governments of Stephen Harper and Jean Charest export death to the world.

"Two years ago the CBC aired a documentary showing bare-handed construction workers in India working with asbestos, their mouths covered only with bandanas — clearly demonstrating an awareness of possible lung damage and a lack of equipment to defend against such damage.

Compare that to the precautions taken in Canada in the handling of asbestos. From the Ottawa Business Journal, July 25, 2011: “Dressed like deep sea divers, workers from Inflector Environmental Services and Ashex Environmental Contractors will spend the next year removing the asbestos that pervades the West Block’s walls ... some asbestos types are so dangerous that contractors will require a separate air supply and decontamination while working.”

While 52 countries around the world have banned the use of asbestos, Canada continues to export it to those that have not — most notably India and China. The argument is that chrysotile asbestos will not damage lungs if proper precautions are taken. But what are the chances of Indian and Chinese workers being dressed up “like deep sea divers” and being provided with separate air supply and decontamination equipment? Anyone who has ever seen a construction site in the developing world knows the answer: zilch." - Colin Kenney, The Spec. -b

Asbestos gets a new lease on death:
http://www.thespec.com/opinion/columns/article/759801--asbestos-gets-a-new-lease-on-death

Public money should not prop up asbestos mining:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/public-money-should-not-prop-up-asbestos-mining-162689836.html

The asbestos bailout: your tax dollars, not well spent:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/asbestos+bailout+your+dollars+well+spent/6954088/story.html#ixzz227RyZpt4