"Canada Concedes Science Against Asbestos Is Sound"

"OTTAWA — The Canadian delegation at an international summit admitted Thursday it agrees with the work of a United Nations scientific panel that wants limits placed on the export of chrysotile asbestos, but Canada still won't back the move.

The admission, made at a UN conference in Geneva to decide whether to label the known carcinogen mined in Quebec as hazardous, reinforced a growing sentiment that domestic politics are behind Canada's entrenched position to block the listing of chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous material on Annex III of the UN's Rotterdam Convention.

The number of people employed in asbestos mining in Quebec has dropped to between 450 and 500, but there is an expansion plan at the main Jeffrey Mine to increase exports to India."

Sarah Schmidt reports for Postmedia News June 23, 2011.