The memorandum to Environment Minister Peter Kent, obtained by Postmedia News under access to information, states the scientific panel for the UN's Rotterdam Convention was on solid ground in 2002 when it first proposed the listing of chrysotile asbestos, a known carcinogen mined in Quebec, as a hazardous material on Annex III of the convention.
Materials listed on this annex require Prior Informed Consent (PIC) — meaning that before countries export listed goods, they must inform importers of the risks and precautionary measures for safe handling, to which importers must consent. Because the convention operates by consensus, any one country can block a listing simply by objecting.
"Since 2002, chrysotile has been proposed four times for addition to the PIC Procedure of the Rotterdam Convention. This decision requires the consensus of the Parties. At previous meetings and again last June, Canada acknowledged that all criteria for the addition of chrysotile asbestos to the Convention have been met but opposed its addition," states the briefing note, dated last fall.
The revelation of Canada's sustained effort to block the listing of chrysotile asbestos despite its acceptance of the scientific evidence behind the proposal comes as the struggling Quebec industry tries to revive itself with government support.
Operations at the last two mines were suspended last November in the Quebec towns of Thetford Mines and Asbestos. A consortium in Asbestos is in negotiations with the Quebec government for a $58-million loan guarantee to open an underground mine at the Jeffrey Mine and export the mineral to developing countries.
New Democratic MP Pat Martin, a longtime critic of the asbestos industry and a former miner himself, said the briefing note blows open Canada's public positions on asbestos.
The Conservative government has said repeatedly that its opposition to the Rotterdam listing, most recently articulated at the June 2011 convention meeting, is consistent with Canada's 30-year old policy of promoting the safe and controlled use of chrysotile.
"They've ignored the scientists. They didn't just deny the science. They acknowledged it but yet ignored it. That is unforgivable, in my view," Martin said Monday.
"They've put commercial and political interests ahead of scientific interests, and in doing, compromised and undermined the whole purpose and intent of the convention," he added, singling out the Conservative government's Quebec Lieutenant, Christian Paradis, who represents a riding at the heart of Quebec's asbestos mining region.
"Stephen Harper has almost no support in Quebec and one of his only seats is the biggest cheerleader for asbestos," said Martin.
The ministerial memo was prepared by Deputy Environment Minister Paul Boothe and Associate Deputy Environment Minister Andrea Lyon after Health Canada informed the department it was set to release a draft report on the risks posed to Canadian workers and the general population from exposure to chrysotile.
The release of the report, triggered by an access to information request, "states that chrysotile deposits are often contaminated with tremolite." And tremolite, "a more potent carcinogen than chrysotile for mesothelioma and it is possibly a more potent carcinogen for lung cancer," is one of five forms of asbestos listed on Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention, the memo states.
Previously released records from Health Canada show the department challenged the government's public stance on the Rotterdam listing and safe use.
"HC's preferred position would be to list (the substance under the treaty) as this is consistent with controlled use — i.e. let people know about the substance so they have the information they need, (through) prior informed consent, to ensure they handle and use the substance correctly," wrote Paul Glover, an assistant deputy minister at Health Canada, in an internal email, dated Aug. 15, 2006.
Original Article
Source: vancouver sun
Author: Sarah Schmidt and Mike De Souza
No comments:
Post a Comment