The Death Knell of Canada's Asbestos Industry? | Colorado Hazard ...

The?bell is tolling for the Canadian asbestos industry. Quasimodo?has pulled?the rope with such force, not even the mighty business?class can prevent?its ringing. We however would be well advised?not to delude ourselves with optimism. This is not the first time this mighty industry has let out?a death rattle before being suddenly revived by the?State and predatory organizations that require its sustenance.

If you recall, November 2011?brought news of the Jefferey Asbestos Mine, Canada?s last and largest?asbestos mine,?quitely halting production for the first time in 130 years. It appears production was halted,??due to increasing scrutiny as science? continues to link ?the mineral to serious health issues such as lung disease and cancer.? However, it was?not the Jefferey Mine?s?insidious?owners that felt a sense of moral obligation to the developing world, which?receives ?100,000 tons of the toxic mineral? annually, but rather the global?market itself seems to have rejected Canada?s toxicant mineral. Senior Research Analyst with the Global Centre for Mining Studies at the Fraser Institute, Alana Wilson,?asserts that ?The demise of Canada?s asbestos industry reflects a declining global demand for asbestos driven by health concerns? where ?107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis from exposure to asbestos in their workplace.? The repudiation of asbestos by the global?marketplace seemed to have?brought the Canadian asbestos industry to its knees, completing its death knell with the closure of the Jefferey Mine. However?just when it seemed the?Leviathan would collapse, it was given new life.

Resuscitation of this degenerate?industry was provided by the corporatist government of?Jean?Charest, former Premier of Quebec. The Charest government revitalized the Canadian asbestos?industry through a ?$58 million dollar loan to the ailing Jefferey Asbestos Mine.? ?The Quebec government?and taxpayers across Canada whose federal transfer dollars end up in Quebec?s budget,? began providing ?financing for two-thirds of the cost to renovate the mine.??The?subsidy also attracted private investors ?led by Balcorp Ltd? that intend to ?kick in another $25-million? to get the mine operational again. Without State intervention, the Canadian asbestos industry would surely have died a natural death. But just as the industry was?on the brink, it was provided the energy to?re-animate itself.

This now brings me to the tolling of the bells. September 4th, 2012 brought a changing of the guard in Canadian politics as the Charest government?lost the election to the Parti Quebecois and the Premiership to Pauline Marois. The Marois government clearly stated while campaigning??their?intention to forbid chrysotile exploitation in Quebec,? and upon?election asserted,??it would cancel?the $58 million loan, confirmed just a few months ago.??Once the morally compromised Bernard Coulombe, owner of the Jefferey Mine, ?got confirmation that?the $58-million dollar loan from the Quebec government?had been cancelled,? Coulombe confirmed that the mine ?won?t reopen.? While it appears as if the amoral?have?been beaten back, it?s not time to celebrate as ?no official announcement has been made? about the definitive?closing of the mine.

The Canadian people appear to be?at a crossroads.?Through the electoral process they have rebuked?the ideas put forth by the Canadian asbestos industry that the Jefferey Mine will both ?create?425 full-time jobs? and ?will also contribute to development in Asbestos, a one-industry town.? This rebuff appears to say that the Canadian people are not anti-buisness or anti-industry, but rather their moral core screams louder than their want of?economic growth. Canadian?s have almost crossed the moral rubicon that has eluded them for decades. All that?s left now is to hold the new Premier accountable.

References:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/quebec-gives-jeffrey-asbestos-mine-58-million-boost/article4381594/

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Federal-Politics/2012/01/09/Canada-Stop-Supporting-The-Asbestos-Industry/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/11/24/asbestos-shutdown.html

http://www.miningfacts.org/Blog/Mining-News/Asbestos-subsidies?Canadian-taxpayers-should-not-be-required-to-subsidize-uneconomic-activities/

http://www.ibasecretariat.org/lka-eu-reacts-to-asbestos-loan.php

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/all/Canada+tosses+towel+defending+asbestos/7244246/story.html

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Quebec+asbestos+mine+reopen+president+says/7370998/story.html

http://www.maacenter.org/news/quebec-province-gives-jeffrey-mine-58-million.html

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Source: http://www.coloradohazard.com/blog/?p=59

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