Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by literally tens of thousands of Canadians.
The petitioners call upon the House of Commons and Parliament here assembled to take note that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. They point out that more Canadians now die from asbestos than all other industrial and occupational causes combined, yet asbestos is not banned in Canada.
The petitioners therefore call upon the Government of Canada to ban asbestos in all of its forms; end all government subsidies to the asbestos industry both in Canada and abroad; and stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam convention.