Madam Speaker, I have heard all these rationales before. There is no such thing as a safe level of exposure to asbestos. Every single one of Quebec's health authorities has asked the federal government to use its authority and not to exempt mining waste. The facts about asbestos are irrefutable. For more than a century, asbestos has been known to be a deadly cause of diseases. All types of asbestos cause cancer. There is no such thing as a safe level of exposure or a safe controlled use of asbestos.
There are numerous pathways of asbestos exposure for those mining, transporting, handling, repairing, removing and disposing, in particular in the chlor-alkali industry. All exemptions will impact the efficacy of the Canadian ban and signal to importers and users in the United States and around the world that industry comes before health and the environment in Canada.
Why does the government ignore the evidence and continue to put Canadians at risk?