Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Canada is one of only a handful of “First World” countries still actively producing and exporting asbestos and asbestos materials.  However, growing pressure from international health organizations and from within Canada's own borders may very well play a part in closing a mine that is still fully operational and exporting products to other countries. 

For decades health groups within the country have been chastising government officials for their short-sightedness when it comes to asbestos.  When world leaders in asbestos production like the United States, the U.K., and Australia have already shut down their operations, Canada’s mining and exportation of harmful chrysotile asbestos is still going strong.

In fact, Canadian officials have repeatedly refused to even make limitation of the exportation process possible – a decision that some doctor groups within the country are calling “shameful.”

Much of Canada’s asbestos is mined and processed in the Ontario town of Sarnia, which has since been given the dubious title of “the mesothelioma capital of Canada”.  Those materials are then shipped overseas to developing nations with few or weak asbestos regulations, meaning that the Canadian government has no way to ensure that these harmful materials are being used properly or with the proper precautions. 

This arrangement has also led to finished goods and products being shipped back into Canada, goods that contain asbestos laden raw materials that Canada itself has produced.

However, growing popular unrest combined with pressure from the United States and other international bodies and a continuing labor crisis may put an effective dent in asbestos mining in Canada.  The Quebec-based LAB Chrysotile announced that it was on the verge of shutting down its Thetford Mines in the city of Asbestos.

Labor union officials have been unable to come to an agreement with company officials and have effectively cut into the mine’s profitability to the point where the company has considered cutting its losses.

While the closing of the Thetford mine wouldn’t completely end asbestos mining in Canada, it definitely would put a dent in it.  The Thetford installation is the last fully operational asbestos mine in the country.  Shutting its doors would drastically reduce the asbestos output and reduce the multimillion dollar exportation business significantly. 

If that happens, opposition groups may be able to gain the upper hand and once again take their case to the government officials and agencies that have so long opposed any curtailing of asbestos operations.