Friedrich Nietzsche once said "there are no facts,
only interpretations."
With that in mind, let's try to discern what Prime Minister Harper is
thinking with his latest embrace of Quebec's asbestos industry and its
ridiculous assertion that the "safe use" of asbestos - outside of
Canada, of course - is not some deadly joke on the world's poor.
Some "facts."
It is impossible to find a reputable, independent, peer-reviewed
international medical research or workplace health and safety
institution arguing that chrysotile asbestos can be used safely by
humans without significant risk of cancer.
The International Agency for Cancer Research states there is no safe exposure limit to asbestos of any kind, echoed by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization. The WHO says more than 100,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases.
The World Bank mandates that, even in disasters, asbestos must not be used for emergency construction projects.
The Canadian Cancer Society, the US Government and all 27 member states of the European Union call for a total ban.
Even the provincially-funded "Institut national de santé publique du Québec" argues "chrysotile asbestos is carcinogenic .... safe use of asbestos is difficult, perhaps impossible."
In the cruel calculus of electoral politics,
if this industry generated immense amounts of money and jobs, you could
understand why "facts" could be ignored in pursuit of votes.
But it does not. Quebec's asbestos industry
generates annual sales of less than $100 million and supports roughly
600 jobs, most part-time. That hardly seems enough influence, even in
one riding, to determine an electoral outcome.
(Inconvenient truth time: it's only very
recently, with the industry shrinking, that the Liberals, the NDP and
the Canadian Labour Congress called for an end to asbestos production.
For decades, they supported government funding for the promotion of
asbestos exports.)
So, the "interpretations."
Maybe Prime Minister Harper is simply playing
a craven waiting game, gambling that, eventually, asbestos production
in Canada will wither away. Recently released government documents
(obtained only through Freedom of Information requests) support this
position. So why risk losing those few asbestos industry-related votes
in Quebec?
(There is an argument to make that beyond
electoral politics, asbestos has an iconic importance in Quebec politics
that transcends its ugly truth. The asbestos industry was central to
the political awakening of modern Quebec during the late 1940s and early
1950s when virtually the whole province came together to support
strikers against their then-American bosses ... helping to kick-start
the careers of Trudeau, Marchand and Pelletier, who supported the
strikers.)
But more likely – and more depressing – is the
idea that, once again, the Prime Minister is simply ignoring the facts
because of his ideological dislike of evidence presented by experts.
Think the cancelled long-form census, when
Harper ignored warnings from statistical experts around the world that
this would hurt Canada's economy.
Think crime stats, with Harper ignoring an
outpouring of evidence that crime of almost every kind in Canada is
steadily declining to argue that what the country needs is tougher laws
and tougher prisons.
Sadly, the facts on asbestos' dangers –
overwhelmingly consistent – will do nothing to convince Harper to
reverse his support for the industry.
Which leaves the rest of us to buckle down and
fight on: perhaps as a best bet, to call for a well-funded transition
program to help miners and their families find new sustainable jobs.
But a fact – with no interpretation possible –
is that our country must rid itself of its sadly-indisputable
reputation as an industrial merchant of death.
