asbestos prime minister

Source images: Freedom Forum; Theodore Gray; Mavericks Cricket Institute

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (in a parallel universe not so far away) holding up a sample of asbestos ore, the very substance used to fabricate the armor-like hairpieces he is so famous for. Reagan was known as the "teflon president"; Mr. Harper will no doubt go down in history as the "asbestos prime minister."

"The Conservative Leader made a campaign stop in Quebec’s Eastern Townships to show the failing asbestos industry some support, a move the Tories are hoping will enable them to win a seat in the area.
One of Mr. Harper's own cabinet ministers, Chuck Strahl is a victim of asbestos.
     Mr. Strahl, not seeking re-election, has been diagnosed with incurable lung cancer – mesothelioma – believed to be triggered by breathing asbestos when he was younger.
     Mr. Harper’s stumping, however, sparked renewed pressure on him to end Canadian production and export of the cancer-causing mineral.
     He said it’s not fair to deny a Canadian enterprise export markets for a product that’s in demand elsewhere. And he declined though to reconsider a ban on using asbestos in homes and schools.
     'We have no plans to do that but chrysotile, specifically, is permitted internationally under conditions of safe and controlled use,' Mr. Harper said. [...]
      The Conservatives [...] support the industry. Ottawa funds an asbestos industry lobby group and fights international efforts to restrict trade in asbestos.
     'The science is indisputable that all asbestos is deadly. Not a single reputable authority supports your claim that chrysotile asbestos can be safely used,' the Rideau Institute's Kathleen Ruff said in the letter on behalf of more than 15 activist groups. 'Canada is becoming known as an immoral asbestos pusher and as an enemy of global public health. This is not the role Canadians want to play in the world.'"
— Steven Chase, The Globe and Mail
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"Canada is the world’s biggest hypocrite when it comes to asbestos."

"In recent years, numerous studies have documented the anticipated rise in mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases over the next several decades in Asia. One recent study, in the Journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, said that Asia, with its large, developing countries, currently accounts for about 64% of the world’s asbestos use. This represents a steady increase -- the continent accounted for a 33% share from 1971 to 2000, and 14% from 1920 to 1970. [...]
     Many public health experts, such as [Dr. Arthur] Frank of Drexel University, have called for a ban on asbestos exports to Asia. Last year, Frank led a group of 120 medical doctors and other health professionals in a campaign to stop Canada from exporting asbestos to developing nations. Canada, which has largely banned asbestos for domestic use, is the second-largest exporter of asbestos to Asia, behind only Russia.
     In an appeal to Canadian medical experts, Frank and his colleagues warned that Canada is morally obligated to consider the 'enormous harm to health for generations,' if the exports continue – a plea that so far has gone unheeded.
     In the recent interview, Frank reiterated the urgency to stop developed nations such as Canada from exporting asbestos to the Third World, along with the need for Asian nations to ban asbestos and start using available non-lethal substitutes.
     'What needs to be done is very simple,' Frank told me. 'They should stop using asbestos in Asia.'
     However, this is unlikely to happen as long as established countries continue to chase the profits from exporting the carcinogen. 'Canada is the world’s biggest hypocrite when it comes to asbestos,' said Frank. 'It is taking it (asbestos) out of Parliament buildings but willing to sell it overseas.' [It] has banned the use of asbestos domestically and is scheduled to begin a $1 billion renovation project to clean its parliamentary buildings of asbestos this summer. Yet Canada remains one of the world’s biggest exporters of asbestos to the Third World."
— Gary Cohn, The Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Blog
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