Asbestos

A multi million dollar road project has been put on hold pending an investigation about asbestos found in some of the fill used for the project. Small amounts were discovered by inspectors monitoring the project. Work was halted even thought the fill used was to be covered by feet of other material. For this action to be taken supports the idea of just how dangerous a commodity we are dealing with.

Years ago the use of asbestos was banned in Canada for building projects. Schools and other public buildings had to be cleansed of this material and huge amounts of money were allocated to this end. The very use of the word asbestos brought bad thoughts to mind because of the deadly effect it has had on people who breathed the deadly fibers only to find lethal results years later.

In spite of the evidence and laws banning its use in Canada the government turns a blind eye to the export of this commodity to other countries like India and China. In these countries there is wide spread use of asbestos as a hardener for concrete and building materials. Few or no special care is taken during these processes and workers are in direct contact with this material daily.

Perhaps the asbestos lobby from Quebec is so strong that it has become a political hot potato. With all conscience, to turn a blind eye there must be fear on the part of the government to lose votes if action results in dollars being lost to the lethal industry. This double standard is present in other policies where votes outweigh common sense.This is not a 2010 problem but for many years every government has neglected its duty to act and act responsibly.

The other issue is the tar sands and our greatest contributor to pollution and climate change. Since the USA imports 40 per cent of its oil and gas from Canada and Alberta fills its coffers from the royalties there is little incentive for the government to act in a responsible way. There is a huge lobby for lack of control in the oil patch and it is not likely to change. This is the reason Canada has eased up to the American policy on global warming and forsook its independent stand on the world stage.

These issues are not new but it would be helpful if our government would face these issues in the new year and bring about productive , creative resolution to an otherwise destructive situation