February 11, 2020

Canada, Asbestos Free!

By Adam Melnick

by
Adam Melnick
Director Government and Community Relations
Heat and Frost Insulators & Allied Workers Local 95 Ontario

On December 30, 2018, we welcomed the Government of Canada’s announcement on the ban, use, import and export of asbestos. This was a triumphant moment for many Canadians. The decades of effort and advocacy expended by asbestos victims and their families, the labour movement, public health organizations and environmental groups, resulted in this historic measure coming to fruition as part of the Trudeau government’s call to action.

The implementation of the ban set the foundation for realistic and attainable next steps – a comprehensive strategy to address the legacy of asbestos in our built environment and the continuing flow of disease stemming from past and current exposures. Because this relentless material still resides in our homes and public infrastructure, it poses a safety and health risk to our citizens. With each renovation, maintenance project or retrofit, a new exposure can occur, resulting in a multiple decade latency period and culminating in an almost always fatal outcome.

To be truly effective, we must deal with the impact of diseases resulting from not only past and current exposures but from the exposures of tomorrow, and that requires addressing this next very crucial step now. It is estimated that currently more than 2,000 Canadians die each year from asbestos-related diseases, primarily mesothelioma and lung cancer. The annual economic cost of asbestos-related cancers in Canada exceed $2 Billion.

Now that Canada has taken the important step to ban asbestos, we can take inspiration from other countries’ experiences in eliminating the impact of asbestos on people and the environment. The most successful efforts have taken place in countries with comprehensive strategies, coordinated by a transparent and accountable institutional framework. The European Union has a lot to teach us, but the most impressive example is the Australian Agency for Asbestos Safety and Eradication (ASEA). https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/

ASEA is an agency of the Australian National Government. It is now entering its second five-year plan, which supports Australia’s 30-year strategy to eliminate asbestos. ASEA has also developed its strategy in a federal government system very similar to that of Canada, which makes the Australian experience particularly valuable to us.

Now is the time for Canada to show that it is possible to turn the page and finally become asbestos-free!

For the Canadian Government to make Canada Asbestos Free the next decisive steps need to be the establishment of a Federal Asbestos Agency based on the Australian model to address Asbestos impacts on public health, the Environment and the Workplace. The Agency, in cooperation with Indigenous peoples, the provinces, territories and municipalities would be

mandated to develop a comprehensive Canadian Asbestos Strategy and an implementation plan, while respecting the jurisdictions of each level of government

The following elements could serve as foundations of the Canadian asbestos strategy:
1. Documentation

• Document all locations where asbestos is present, and its condition, as well as exposed people and their health conditions
2. Safe and effective elimination of asbestos
• Develop a long-term strategy to remove asbestos from our built environment and broader environment (for example, the tailings from mining operations, management and disposal of materials containing asbestos), starting with buildings or environments where asbestos is in poor condition and most likely to cause harm.
• Ensure the protection of workers and the public during the removal of asbestos. This includes adoption by the federal government of the “ALARA” principle (already accepted in BC). This means that asbestos exposure should be “as low as is reasonably achievable”. This would recognize that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. The federal government should also require that any federally funded asbestos related projects be carried out subject to its own asbestos exposure limit of 0.1 fibre/cc.
• Give a mandate to the agency to work in collaboration with the provinces and territories with the aim of adoption of the ALARA principle in their legislation. In the short term (1-2 years) the objective would be to implement the widely accepted exposure limit of 0.1 fibre/cc. Following this, in the medium term (a maximum of 7 years), to reduce the exposure limit further to 0.01 fibre/cc., which is already in force in some European countries. With a continuing commitment after that to achieve the lowest level technically achievable.
• Require the adoption of safe alternatives to asbestos, based on rigorous assessment of their hazards to occupational and public health and of their environmental impacts. This approach aims to avoid the creation of new hazardous exposures and regrettable substitution.

3. Just transition for affected workers and communities
• Ensure a just transition for the workers, communities and businesses affected that is effectively resourced, transparent and includes effective stakeholder engagement. This includes a thorough and rigorous environmental and public health risk analysis of options for dealing with the asbestos tailings, especially in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.
4. Health care and compensation for asbestos disease victims
• Develop a comprehensive research framework for asbestos diseases, in particular mesothelioma, and an effective health response for the victims. This should include a national mesothelioma health care network and a mesothelioma patient registry.
• Establish a public system of compensation for the victims of both occupational and non-occupational asbestos diseases.
• Establish a mechanism to coordinate the handling of asbestos diseases where the exposure may have occurred in more than one province or territory.
• Collaborate with the workers’ compensation authorities in the provinces and territories to establish criteria supporting the review of past asbestos disease cases, which may have been denied or not filed at all due to a lack of awareness, in light of current scientific knowledge.
5. International action
• Play a leading role in international asbestos action, including an international ban on asbestos and listing of chrysotile asbestos under the Rotterdam Convention.
• Support the developing world as they address the increasing incidence of asbestos disease
As year one is upon us for the current Federal Government, there is an opportunity to echo the impact and long term health and safety for Canadians at home and work by collaborating with the same organizations and advocates who helped shape and implement the momentous first steps. The next steps for Canada’s Ban on Asbestos may seem complex. They don’t have to be. By replicating the cooperation and commitment that led to the 2018 announcement, we can effectively make light of the work required to ensure this legacy substance is properly remediated and disposed of, thereby protecting the health and safety of all Canadians.

Adam Melnick
Director Government and Community Relations
Heat and Frost Insulators & Allied Workers Local 95 Ontario
166 Newkirk Road Unit #5
Richmond Hill, Ontario
L4C 3G7
T: 289-459-0122
TF: 1-855-855-0934
C: 647-254-4914
E: amelnick@insulators95.com