Quebec and Canadian governments end their historic support of the asbestos industry

Our plain-English summary of Quebec and Canadian governments end their historic support of the asbestos industry, by K. Ruff (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2012).

The study

• Author: K. Ruff
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2012;18(4):263-7
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is an editorial, not a research study. The author described how, within three weeks in 2012, the Quebec and Canadian governments ended their support of the Quebec asbestos industry. The newly elected Parti Québécois government said it would cancel a $58 million government loan for opening the Jeffrey underground asbestos mine, and Premier Pauline Marois said the decision was made for health reasons. On September 14, 2012, federal Industry Minister Christian Paradis announced that Canada would end its support, give $50 million for economic diversification of the region, and stop blocking the listing of chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous substance under the Rotterdam Convention. The author argued that the federal decision was not made for health reasons, noting that federal regulations permit occupational exposure of 1 f/cc, ten times higher than in Europe or the US. Citing a Quebec public health institute report, the author stated that only 21% of mesothelioma cases are awarded CSST compensation. The author concluded that Canada's absence would greatly increase the chances of chrysotile being listed in 2013.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: editorial (opinion piece); no original data collected or analysed
• Who was studied: No study population. The editorial discusses Quebec and Canadian government policy toward the Quebec asbestos mining industry, focusing on events in 2011 and 2012.
• Exposure: Not a study of exposure. The topic is government support for mining and export of chrysotile asbestos, and its listing under the Rotterdam Convention.
• Main results:
  • The author reported that the incoming Parti Québécois government said it would cancel the $58 million loan given to investors to open the Jeffrey underground mine.
  • The author reported that Premier Pauline Marois said the decision was made for health reasons.
  • The author reported that the federal government announced on September 14, 2012 that it would end support of the asbestos industry, give $50 million for regional economic diversification, and stop blocking the listing of chrysotile asbestos under the Rotterdam Convention.
  • The author stated that federal regulations permit occupational exposure to chrysotile fibres of 1 f/cc, ten times higher than permitted in Europe, the US or any industrialized country. The author added that most Canadian workers come under provincial limits of 0.1 f/cc.
  • Citing research by Quebec's National Public Health Institute (INSPQ), not this article's own data, the author stated that only 21% of mesothelioma cases are awarded compensation from the CSST.
  • The author reported, citing media coverage, that a UN spokesperson confirmed Canada stood alone in blocking the listing of chrysotile asbestos at the June 2011 Conference of the Parties.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that, although the federal government ended its obstruction of the Rotterdam Convention for what the author called perverse reasons, Canada's absence would greatly increase the chances of chrysotile asbestos being listed as a hazardous substance at the 2013 conference.

Related studies

• Asbestos panelists accuse government of misusing science — L. Eggertson (2008)
• Mortality and cancer morbidity in a cohort of Canadian petroleum workers — R.J. Lewis, A.R. Schnatter, et al. (2003)
• Mortality Update of a Cohort of Canadian Petroleum Workers — A.R. Schnatter, N.C. Wojcik, et al. (2019)
• Should Canadian health care professionals support the call for a worldwide ban on asbestos? — J. Siemiatycki (2001)
• How Canada's Asbestos Industry Was Defeated in Quebec — K. Ruff (2017)
• Asbestos: avoiding a pyrrhic victory — G. Paradis (2012)

Browse more research in International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, or return to medical research.