Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that petitions continue to pour in about an issue that I wrote about in my local newspaper, the Hamilton Mountain News, over three months ago.
Momentum just keeps building on the lead-up to tonight's vote on our NDP motion to ban asbestos. There is overwhelming support for a ban on asbestos in all its forms and for a just transition program for asbestos workers and the communities in which they work.
We know that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. It is banned for use in our country, and yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos. It is more than ironic that we are taking asbestos out of the Parliament Buildings because of its deadly nature, and yet we continue to export asbestos to other countries in the world.
As the petitioners rightly point out, Canada spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry, which the signators refer to as “corporate welfare for corporate serial killers”.
It is time Canada started acting with integrity on this issue.
The petitioners call upon the government to stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam Convention.
The rules of the House do not allow me to endorse this petition, but I will conclude by saying that for the first time I find myself agreeing with former Conservative cabinet minister Chuck Strahl, who is now joining the chorus of Canadians urging the Prime Minister to move on chrysotile asbestos.