Asian Solidarity Delegation to Québec to Stop the Import of DEATH

Issue No : 77  October - December 2010

By Omana George

A delegation from Asia belonging to the Asian Ban Asbestos Network (A-BAN) went to Canada from 6-10 December 2010. The delegation, which included asbestos victims, activists and union representatives from India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea, went to Québec, Canada in response to Premier Jean Charest and the Québec Government’s plans to provide financing of CAD$58 million (US$ 59.5 million) to an anonymous consortium of investors so that they could re-open the old underground Jeffrey asbestos mine pit in the town of Asbestos.

This asbestos would not be used in Québec or anywhere in Canada– Canadian citizens do not want to risk hazardous exposures to asbestos and they are right not to do so. Rather, if this project goes ahead, the Jeffrey mine would produce over five million tonnes of asbestos in the next quarter century, and nearly all the asbestos would make its way to Asian countries, a fact which is morally indefensible and hypocritical. In most asbestos-consuming countries in Asia, the epidemic of asbestos-related diseases remains largely invisible. Asbestosis and cancer victims are dying without proper diagnosis and treatment (their illnesses are often misdiagnosed); moreover, in most Asian countries, sick workers are unable to obtain financial support or compensation.

The message of the Asian delegation, which included Omana George from AMRC, was explicitly clear: it was not to finance the Jeffrey mine. The International Labour Organization estimates that there are more than 100,000 asbestos-related deaths every year. The World Health Organization believes the death toll is higher and that future fatalities will escalate due to ongoing hazardous exposures.

Asbestos industry propagandists assure people in Québec that asbestos can be used safely under controlled conditions, which is a questionable assertion; research has proven that these conditions do not exist even in Québec’s workplaces.  For many years Québec’s asbestos lobby has, by means of aggressive lobbying and public deception, prevented the truth about asbestos from being told. Québec’s own medical doctors and health professionals have challenged the Québec Government to stop the mining and export of asbestos.

The delegation went to Montreal, Québec Cityand Ottawa and with the help of Canadian activists, took part in a series of press conferences. Their visit was extensively featured in print, radio and television media, carrying their important message to the people of Québec and Canada.  On 9 December 2010, The Gazette in Montreal carried the headlines ‘ Asbestos trade draws more flak’, while the well-reputed medical journal The Lancet  slammed the Canadian and the Québec Government for exporting deadly asbestos to vulnerable developing countries.

The delegation held public meetings and met with politicians in Québec and held press conferences in the Legislative Assembly in Québec City and at the Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Rachel Jeong-Rim Lee, a victim of environmental exposure of asbestos from South Korea, gave a moving testimony about her life and how she was exposed to asbestos, and about her sickness. She told Minister Gignac and governmental officials from the Ministry of National Resources, ‘Asbestos has destroyed my life’. (See the interview with Rachel and Yeyong Choi on p. 34, OSHColumn: Interview with Ban Asbestos Network Korea.)

The trip concluded with a demonstration outside Premier Charest’s office in Montreal. The decision of the Québec Government is still pending but there is strong pressure on Montreal, the world over, to do the right thing and not finance the Jeffrey mines.

Asian Solidarity Delegation protests outside the office of Premier Charest in Montreal; the Asian Solidarity Delegation speaks in front of the Legislative Assembly; Indonesian community activist and OSHNetwork Coordinator Muhamad Darisman holds up a bag of the deadly asbestos which gets exported from Canada.                        Photos: Darisman