Canadian Trade Unions call for ban asbestos

Building Trades unions urge federal Conservatives, Liberals to support New Democratic Party call for total ban on use and export of deadly asbestos from Canada, citing expected 1,500 BC workers' deaths over next 5 years

VANCOUVER, April 27 /CNW/ - BC's Building Trades unions are urging
Members of Parliament from the federal Conservative, Liberal and Bloc
Quebecois parties to support a New Democratic Party call for a total ban on
the use or export of deadly asbestos mined in Canada.
Mesothelioma and other asbestos exposure illnesses are expected to kill
1,500 BC workers over the next five years, according to medical experts, with
the overwhelming majority from the construction industry, says Wayne Peppard,
Executive Director of the BC and Yukon Territory Building and Construction
Trades Council (BCYT).
The new NDP policy calls on the federal government to adopt a
comprehensive policy on asbestos including the phasing out of its use and
export to other countries, as well as a transition strategy to assist asbestos
miners in Quebec, Peppard said.
"The current Conservative and past Liberal governments have failed to
stop the use and export of deadly asbestos for years and workers here are
already paying a heavy price for their inaction," Peppard said. "We are urging
both parties to join the NDP in supporting the end to the use and export of
asbestos and a fair transition program for the asbestos industry."
Recently released research findings from the UBC School of Environmental
Health indicate over 1,500 BC workers will die from asbestos-related diseases
over the next five years, Peppard said. Construction workers in the piping and
insulation fields are suffering the most fatalities, he said.
Peppard said the federal NDP position backs the Canadian Cancer Society,
the World Health Organization and the Institute National de Sante du Quebec,
which have all confirmed the carcinogenic toxins in asbestos and called for
comprehensive strategies to phase out the use and export of asbestos.
The NDP policy calls for economic development investments in Quebec
communities that have been negatively affected by the asbestos industry
crisis, Peppard said. The plan also calls for testing and the safe removal of
asbestos in residential, commercial, institutional and industrial buildings,
he added.
"Canada is among a very few countries left in the world that have not
ratified the inclusion of chrysotile asbestos in the United Nations Rotterdam
Convention," Peppard said. "We urge all of the federal parties to support a
total ban on use and export of asbestos before the next meeting by the UN on
the Rotterdam Convention in October."