In 1971, Quebec, Canada was the world's largest producer of asbestos. The fibrous mineral was used in thousands of products, from fire retardants to insulation. In Quebec asbestos is everywhere. The roads are actually paved with it - asbestos is used as a filler in asphalt. There's even a town in Quebec called Asbestos.
But in the late 1960s and early '70s, it became widely accepted that the handling of asbestos caused cancer. The international medical community, with the exception of Canada, determined that asbestos causes terminal illnesses, including mesothelioma and lung cancer. The asbestos industry peaked around 1973, then began to wind down. In the late 1990s, the Canadian industry was hit with a French ban on asbestos imports, and in 2005 a ban was enacted throughout the European Union.
In the United States, beginning in the 1980’s many lawyers became mesothelioma attorneys - representing victims of asbestos. A number of major corporations which had used asbestos in their products declared bankruptcy because of the asbestos litigation. Substitutes for the use of asbestos were developed.
In the past five years, asbestos sales in North America have shrunk. Today, many of the Canadian asbestos mines are bankrupt.
One Canadian company, LAB, continued to mine asbestos and has fought the ban. Their asbestos mine is currently going 24 hours a day. LAB plans to mine 120,000 tons of asbestos this year.
Canadian health authorities, under political pressure, have long refused to issue an opinion on asbestos. However, after an 18-month study, the Canadian Cancer Society finally has called for a ban on the use and export of asbestos. This may be a fatal blow to LAB. In recent years, LAB has struggled with stiff competition from foreign producers.
Simon Dupéré, the 27-year-old president and CEO of LAB thinks that there may be hope for the company by selling to Asia and the Middle East, where demand for asbestos products is growing. But a Canadian company is at a distinct disadvantage to big asbestos producing companies in nations like Russia, Brazil and Zimbabwe, which are closer to emerging markets and can mine asbestos more cheaply.