I don't see how it could be more topical or on topic or in order.
We've seen exposés by the CBC, the Globe and Mail, and Canwest News in recent months about the use of Canadian asbestos in India, because for years the Chrysotile Institute has been maintaining that Canadian asbestos can be handled safely around the world. We now know that's a lie. Yet the Canadian government sends teams of Department of Justice lawyers around the world like globe-trotting propagandists for the asbestos industry, to not only promote asbestos but to undermine the efforts of other countries to curb its use, sabotaging the Rotterdam Convention, and telling other countries that Quebec asbestos is safe. There is nothing benign or safe about Canadian asbestos.
I worked in the asbestos mines. They were lying to us about the health hazards of asbestos then and they continue to lie about it today. And you, Minister, as the MP for the asbestos region and the minister responsible for natural resources, which is subsidizing and promoting the asbestos industry, have a lot to answer for.
We are exporting human misery to other countries on a monumental scale, and the rest of the world is begging Canada to stop it.
Because we have such limited time, I would simply ask you...let me give you a quote from the Chrysotile Institute first. The Chrysotile Institute says that the Canadian Cancer Society, the World Health Organization, and the ILO are a bunch of...what is the term they use--en français, <les fous>. I don't understand the translation, but I think it means they're crazy and wacko.
Do you side with the international scientific community that says all asbestos should be banned, or do you side with the Chrysotile Institute and their phony research that tries to convince the world that asbestos can be used safely?