Asbestos - Canada's Shame Continues

I recently wrote about the opportunity that Canada had to end its pariah-like status by no longer opposing the listing of asbestos as a toxic product in the Rotterdam Convention. Because the Convention requires consensus, Canada, of all the member nations, was the only country to oppose that listing once again, scuttling any attempt to rein in its use in developing countries.

Bearing in mind that Canada's agreement would not have actually impeded its indefensible export of death, but only add a warning as to its danger, our country insisted upon being the lone holdout, continuing to adhere to the fiction that asbestos is safe when handled properly.

This is, of course, the Conservative Party line, one that was parroted by my Member of Parliament when I wrote to him about the issue. Now Geoffrey Simpson has written an article excoriating Canada for its position; it is a timely reminder of how, thanks to the neo-con agenda that has been so vigorously promoted these past several years, Canada has not only lost its former exemplary international reputation, but also made all of its citizens who say and do nothing about this abominable behaviour complicit in it.