Ban-Asbestos-India: Daily Show mocks Asbestos

Friday, May 13, 2011

Daily Show mocks Asbestos

Popular US news program did a stunning piece on Canada's asbestos exports last night.

http://balanceoffood.typepad.com/canadian_crossing/2011/05/daily-show-focuses-on-quebec-and-the-dark-side-of-asbestos.html

Here is the link to watch the item that was shown on The Daily Show last night on Canada’s asbestos trade.

Daily Show: Aasif Mandvi Visits Asbestos, Quebec

http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/Displayblog.aspx?bpid=9a17a3c0-68d2-40a6-88a6-e0bc73586b9b

Daily Show mocks Asbestos, Que.

CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2011/05/13/asbestos-quebec-daily-show-spoof.html

May 13, 2011

Daily Show comedian Aasif Mandvi asks the president of Jeffrey Mine whether the word 'asbestos' means something different in French.Daily Show comedian Aasif Mandvi asks the president of Jeffrey Mine whether the word 'asbestos' means something different in French. Comedy Network

Asbestos, Que. is taking another beating on the international stage, this time from American news satire program, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

A comedic segment produced by one of the show's reporters, Aasif Mandvi, aired Thursday night on the program. It poked fun at the town for promoting the mineral that has been linked to cancer and lung disease.

Mandvi's segment was filmed in Asbestos, and he interviewed both the president of Jeffrey Mine, Bernard Coulombe, and the town director, Georges Gagné.

Mandvi pokes fun at the fact the town is named after a mineral linked to cancer.

"Does 'asbestos' mean something different in French than it does in English?" he asks Coulombe in a sit-down interview.

"Because in English, it means slow, hacking death."

When Mandvi asks the president of the asbestos mine if chrysotile is safe, Coulombe relies, "Yes, it is. Relatively."

Mandvi also uses scenes from a CBC documentary, Canada's Ugly Secret, showing workers in India handling asbestos with only bandanas on their faces.

He chastises Coulombe for selling the mineral to India, where work safety regulations are not as strict as in Canada.

"That's my family over there!" Mandvi, who was born in India, says to Coulombe.

"I mean, what is the French word for douchebag? Anybody?" he asks the camera, in the final shot of the five-minute segment.

Jeffrey Mine is one of Canada's last-remaining asbestos mines.

The Quebec government approved the expansion of the mine in April and has guaranteed a $58-million loan for the cash-strapped mine under condition that the promoter drums up additional financing.

The move caused an outcry from health experts, labour groups and activists around the globe.

The mineral, also known as chrysotile, is a popular construction material, and many of Canada's exported asbestos goes to India.
Not the first time

Asbestos is no stranger to international criticism, from both serious news corporations and more light-hearted sources.

The town was spoofed on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's show The Gruen Transfer in June 2010.

The reality show asked two advertising executives to design video ads to attract tourists to the town cursed by a name that reminds people of cancer.

In July of the same year, the British Broadcasting Corporation aired a damning in-depth series on Canada's controversial asbestos industry and how the mineral is used in developing countries.
Related Links

Asbestos: Canada's Ugly Secret
Asbestos: Magic Mineral or Deadly Dust?

External Links

Watch The Daily Show Asbestos spoof here

* Jon Stewart's popular U.S. TV show mocks Quebec town of Asbestos

(The Canadian Press) – May 13, 2011

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hJD8L3-QCQBgGb92UcT-BC5tzDhg?docId=6842047

MONTREAL — The Quebec town of Asbestos was the object of ridicule on one of the world's most popular comedy programs Thursday night.

''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' produced a sometimes tongue-in-cheek report that was also indignant about the town's attachment to the asbestos industry.

It interviewed local officials who said chrysotile asbestos is perfectly safe if handled properly — and it also spoke with a Canadian Medical Association doctor who dismissed that suggestion.

The piece began with light mockery but took on a more serious tone toward the end.

It reminded people that asbestos is blamed for 100,000 deaths a year and that there's little evidence the product is handled safely in India, the prime market for Quebec asbestos.

At one point, the comedian-reporter on the story — Mumbai-born Aasif Mandvi — tells a local official he has family in India. He scolds the asbestos advocate and asks: "What's the French word for douchebag?"

Quebec holds the last of Canada's remaining asbestos mines and has recently announced a $58-million loan guarantee that will keep one of them open.

As the segment ended, Stewart chuckled as he cut to commercial.

It's wasn't the first time the town was fodder for foreign comedians. An Australian TV show once held a contest for advertising professionals to try making tourists want to visit the place.

1 comment:

Unknown said...: Thank you for exposing that! We are ashamed that our corrupt government is giving loan guarantees to the mining company shipping the mineral to India for processing. Please let me know if the clip is still to be found as the link seems dead.

For more about the Quebec Liberal government corrupt links to this affair, read on or go to http://liberals.net.

"A $58 million loan guarantee was granted for the relaunch of Jeffrey asbestos Mine, in the town of Absestos. That is after this industry has made thousands of victims and caused many deaths in Québec only. Moreover, Balcorp president Baljit Chadha, main promoter of the mine relaunch, organized a fundraising event for QLP (see point 9) with Prime Minister Jean Charest in 2009. The cocktail party was held in Westmount, in the private residence of Balcorp president, and collected an estimated amount of $20 000."; August 2, 2012 at 10:13 AM

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Ban on Asbestos is a Must

A study in a peer-reviewed journal had earlier estimated that there could be more than 6,000 workers affected by asbestosis (an untreatable lung ailment) and another 600 suffering at the minimum from asbestosis-related lung cancer in India at present. Occupational cancer from asbestos, the disease caused by emissions at the work place, poses an increasingly serious health problem. But the subject has attracted relatively little attention from industry, labour, public health bodies or the medical profession. Asbestos is one of the single largest sources of occupational cancer. Indian polticians are acting as if they are bonded workers of asbestos industry.

World Trade Center, New York collapsed Thousands of tons of asbestos became airborne.

Back in 1981, there was research coming out that Asbestos was cancer causing and this ad was in rebuttal to that research touting the benefits of using Asbestos. The text over the Twin Towers states, "When the Fire Alarm Went Off, It Took Two Hours to Evacuate New York's World Trade Center." I do not need to remind anyone of the images of September 11th and this ad. The copy below the ad goes on to mention all of the places that Asbestos was used in the World Trade Center. I can not not think of all of the innocent victims in the area that were exposed to all of the dust, smoke and inherent asbestos that was in the air after the buildings collapsed. The cloud of smoke went across the entire city and potentially exposed hundreds of thousands of individuals to asbestos. Hopefully there can be a cure or treatment for Mesothelioma before all of these potential victims are diagnosed.

Apex Court allocates meagre compensation for asbetsos victims

In 1995, the Supreme Court of India fixed Rs 1 lakh compensation amount and identified National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) as the final authority to certify asbestosis cases. Compensations are given through the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). Two workers in Ahmedabad Electricity Company diagnosed as having asbestosis by NIOH have been compensated by Gujarat High Court. Twenty-five workers in asbestos jointing and packing industry at Mumbai were compensated by the Special medical board of ESIC. The court ruled that the industrial units must maintain a health record of every worker up to a minimum period of 40 years; insure workers under the Employees State Insurance Act or Workmen’s Compensation Act and give health coverage to every worker.

Asbestos Victims

Every day estimated 30 deaths in India is under way due to the ongoing trade and use of white asbestos. 'Asbestos' in Greek means 'indestructible'. Greeks called asbestos the 'magic mineral'. Asbestos is a generic term, referring usually to six kinds of naturally occuring mineral fibres. Of these six, three are used more commonly. Chrysotile is the most common, accounts for almost 90 per cent of the asbestos used in the industry, but it is not unusual to encounter Amosite or Crocidolite as well. Though Crocidolite asbestos is banned in India, it can still be found in old insulation material, old ships that come from other countries for wrecking in India. All types of asbestos tend to break into very tiny fibre, almost microscopic. In fact, some of them may be up to 700 times smaller than human hair. Because of their small size, once released into the air, they may stay suspended in the air for hours or even days. Asbestos fibres are virtually indestructible. They are resistant to chemicals and heat, and are very stable in the environment. They do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water, and they do not break down over time. Because of its high durability and with tensile strength asbestos has been widely used inconstruction and insulation materials - it has been used in over 3,000 different products. Where do we use it? In India, asbestos is used in manufacture of pressure and non pressure pipes used for water supply, sewage, irrigation and drainage system in urban and rural areas, asbestos textiles, laminated products, tape, gland packing, packing ropes, brake lining and jointing used in core sector industries such as automobile, heavy equipment, petro-chemicals, nuclear power plants, fertilizers, thermal power plants, transportation, defence.

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Friday, May 13, 2011

Daily Show mocks Asbestos

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