U.S. Magazine Calls out Canada for Asbestos 'Hypocrisy'

Ottawa insists the product can be used safely, but doesn't want it anywhere near Parliament Hill.

A recent article in the U.S. online magazine Slate is accusing Canada of " breathtaking hypocrisy" for exporting asbestos to foreign countries while seeking to remove the product at home. The article denounces Canada for spending millions of dollars in an effort to rid asbestos from three buildings on Parliament Hill, but opposing adding chrysotile asbestos to a United Nations hazardous industrial chemicals treaty last month. The list would inform recipient countries of the health hazards associated with it and give them the opportunity to reject the import. The article asks: "What makes something safe for Indian workers but poisonous to Canadian politicians?" India is Canada's biggest importer of asbestos. Asbestos has long been linked to cancer, with 90,000 people dying from asbestos-related diseases each year.