MONTREAL — The party considered the front-runner in the Quebec election is poised to shut down what’s left of Canada’s asbestos industry, following its lengthy and controversial decline.
The Parti Quebecois says it would start by cancelling a $58-million loan, promised by the current Liberal government, to the last fully operational asbestos mine in the country.
It would then hold a consultation with workers around Asbestos, Que., about diversifying the regional economy.
PQ Leader Pauline Marois says health studies and various trendlines point toward an eventual ban on the industry.
The statement from the PQ, leading in the polls with a week left in the provincial election, could be a powerful blow to the industry.
If Jeffrey Mine loses its loan, and with Quebec’s other remaining asbestos mine in disrepair, that would effectively end a Canadian industry that for much of the last 130 years dominated world production and led to the construction of entire towns.
Until recently, Quebec political parties were staunch defenders of asbestos but concerns about the health impact, particularly in poor countries, worked to turn the political tide.
Proponents of the industry insist it can be safe if handled with the right precautions. But its detractors question whether safety standards can be guaranteed in the developing countries that import asbestos.
The commodity was once hailed as the “magic mineral” for its fireproofing and insulating characteristics.
Canadian asbestos represented 85% of world production in the early 1900s and annual production peaked at 1.69 million tonnes in 1973, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The resource was so valuable that the U.S. military drew up plans during the 1930s to enter Quebec and defend the mines if Canada ever fell under German control, according to Jessica Van Horssen, a McGill University researcher who’s studied the history of Quebec asbestos.
In a 2011 interview, she said Nazi leader Adolf Hitler bought Canadian asbestos up until the Second World War for fireproof building material and Winston Churchill’s bunker on Downing Street was also made of asbestos cement.
But the industry began its decline in the 1970s as science started linking asbestos exposure to serious health problems, such as lung disease and cancer. Canada produced around 5% of the world supply in 2010 and just 100,000 tonnes, the USGS says.
The World Health Organization estimates that 107,000 people die globally each year from asbestos-related disease.