It's too bad that Stephen Harper has decided to make continuing this long-standing Liberal policy on asbestos one of the hallmarks of his international 'leadership.'

Once again, Canada's 'new government' is leading, and not in a good way: quote:Canada, whose French-speaking Quebec province is a major asbestos producer and exporter, led opposition to the addition of chrysotile asbestos to the list, according to environmentalists tracking the talks.

"What the Canadians are trying to do – what they're all trying to do – is delay this as long as they can so they can make as much money as they can."

[Laurie Kazan-Allen of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat] said that for every worker in the Canadian asbestos industry, two people die every year.

"For public health worldwide this is truly tragic. It's also very sad that a multilateral environmental agreement which had so much promise has been brought to its knees by people who are more interested in the pennies in their pockets than the number of people dying."Link.

So, according to Harper, threats to Canadians' health must be addressed by a 'Clean Air Act' (his replacement for another multilateral environmental agreement).

It's 'tough luck,' though, for people in developing countries whose health is threatened by the asbestos trade from which we profit.

Canadian 'leadership' at its finest.

International Ban Asbestos Secretariat.

[ 14 October 2006: Message edited by: sgm ]