The Canadian Labour Congress is urging the federal government to ban the import and use of asbestos in the country, and the city of North Vancouver may soon follow suit.
During a news conference Wednesday in North Vancouver alongside the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the city’s mayor Darrell Mussatto said city council will hold a vote on Dec. 12 to decide on whether to join the nationwide movement.
“We’ll be urging the federal government and our provincial government to bring in that type of legislation to ensure that there’s no asbestos in our workplace and no asbestos imported or used here in Canada,” said Mussatto.
Lee Loftus, president of the British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council, spoke at length about how he, a sufferer of asbestosis due to his years as a construction worker, has received calls every month for the last four decades from workers and their families whose lives are destroyed by asbestos exposure and the diseases that come with it.
READ MORE: Too many homeowners unaware of asbestos risk, says WorkSafeBC
Canada’s workers’ unions have been calling on federal and provincial governments to ban asbestos for years, as deaths related to asbestos exposure have climbed steadily over the past decade. The growth in reported deaths by asbestos-related illnesses — usually mesothelioma and other types of lung cancer — is due to the long latency periods of those diseases, medical experts say.
An average of 2,000 people die from those illnesses every year, with an average of 69 of those victims coming from British Columbia, the CLC says.
Statistics released by the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada show asbestos to be the top on-the-job killer in Canada by a wide margin, with 367 accepted claims in 2015, compared to 56 accepted claims for other causes of death.
Loftus says mesothelioma is usually not diagnosed until late stage 3 or 4, which practically guarantees death a short time later. That diagnosis can come as late as 30 years after initial exposure.
“It’s very quick, but very painful. It’s like being strangled to death.”
Canada stopped exporting asbestos in 2011, and the last asbestos mine in the country shut down around the same time. But imports of asbestos have continued, mostly within pipes, brake pads, and other construction and automotive materials. The CLC estimates the value of those imports have risen to $8.2 million in 2015.
The Liberal government had previously pledged to ban asbestos in Canada, but the CLC says immediate action needs to be taken to join the growing number of countries who have committed to a comprehensive block on imports.
Officials from the Minister of Science’s office sent a statement to Global News saying the government has already taken steps to ban asbestos in the construction of new federal buildings, as well as creating an online national inventory of existing federal buildings that contain asbestos.
“Further action the government takes to enact the ban will be grounded in science and evidence-based decision making and announced in the near future,” the statement concluded.
The CLC is holding similar press conferences across the country, and is asking other municipalities to join them in their campaign.
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