I wonder who was in the chair then.
Minister Raitt, thank you for this opportunity.
Minister, asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known. More Canadians now die from asbestos than all other industrial diseases combined. In fact, in the province of Quebec, 80% of all the deaths due to industrial disease are from this carcinogen. Yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world. Without exaggeration, we are exporting human misery on a monumental scale.
Asbestos is not only not banned in Canada, the Government of Canada spends millions of dollars actively subsidizing and promoting asbestos all over the world. It's not only in direct subsidies, but Government of Canada officials act like globe-trotting propagandists for the asbestos industry--not only promoting the product, but undermining other countries' efforts to curb its use.
So, Minister, I come to you today noting that in your estimates you have a further direct subsidy to the Asbestos Institute, a group of charlatans. I have no qualms whatsoever calling the Asbestos Institute a bunch of frauds and charlatans. I can show you a list of 150 scientists, doctors, and researchers from around the world who say that asbestos should be banned in all of its forms. The Chrysotile Institute has one discredited charlatan, David Bernstein, who says that asbestos might be able to be used safely if you're careful, and that's the only researcher that your government, the Government of Canada, hangs its hat on.
I agree with Keith Spicer that Canada's policy on asbestos is morally and ethically reprehensible, and I ask how you, as the Minister of Natural Resources, can in good conscience shovel taxpayers' money to this bunch of clowns to go out and dump 220,000 tonnes of asbestos per year into the third world.
Now you're spending tens of millions of dollars to remove the asbestos from these buildings, because no MP should ever be exposed to a single fibre, yet you're dumping 200,000 tonnes per year--only into third world countries, because all western countries have banned the stuff--with no health and safety protection whatsoever. You're creating a legacy of illness in those countries with every tonne you export. How do you justify this appalling international embarrassment, this disgrace, this stain on Canada's reputation?