I want to thank you for the question. First, this is an ongoing controversy and we, along with some national labour unions, purchased a two-page ad in The Hill Times a week ago, which has been turned into a pamphlet, in French on the other side, for distribution next week.
We felt that it was important to challenge the claims of the chrysotile industry about the safety of using chrysotile. It has been proven to be a carcinogen. There is absolutely no doubt that it is a carcinogen. There is a debate about whether it is worse than amphibole or tremolite asbestos. This position has been refuted and challenged by the chrysotile industry on the basis that it doesn't bio-persist in the lungs.
The argument about bio-persistence is in fact a red herring. There is no proof that the length of time it is in the lungs is what determines its effect on human beings, and it also is a serious question in people who have been exposed only to chrysotile and find that they have mesothelioma, which is a cancer that's caused only by asbestos.
I would urge members of the committee to look carefully at the document when it comes out next week and we'll be glad to respond to that one.
It is true that people in the asbestos regions of Quebec, some of the women, have higher rates of mesothelioma than people in other parts of the country and in other parts of North America. It is certainly true that there have been major efforts made by the Quebec union movement over the years to try to handle this dangerous fibre safely.
In unionized workplaces where people wear all the equipment and everything is monitored very carefully, then it probably can be used safely. However, we export it to other countries, where it may be handled safely and it may not. We have ample evidence of places in Peru, in Brazil, and in other countries where we export where the asbestos is not handled safely and where workers are exposed to it. It's made into asbestos cement, which is then handled by people at home, which deteriorates and causes problems. I understand that a number of the communities after the tsunami in Indonesia were rebuilt with asbestos cement.
Certainly there are reasons to use it, but there are also a lot of reasons why it's incredibly dangerous, and we, along with 39 different countries and a number or organizations that are listed in this document, feel that it is dangerous, that it should be banned in Canada and banned abroad, and that the people who are dependent on this industry in Asbestos, Thetford Mines, and Danville should have the opportunity for other kinds of work, a huge investment to help them rejig their economy to enable them to have a just transition from this work.
It's a danger to the people who live there. It's a danger to people who work with it and it's a danger to the people where we export it.