The top job killer in Canada is asbestos exposure. This comes from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada. Asbestos was the cause of death for 367 people in 2015. Since 1996, there have been 5,614 recorded work-related deaths from asbestos in Canada. This does not include people diagnosed with mesothelioma that didn’t work in industry, such as wives of asbestos workers or people who worked with it in the summer in their youth.
An open letter written to the Prime Minister on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 2016, was signed by 68 groups, including the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, many large unions, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, as well as over 50 individuals such as scientists, doctors, professors as well as many family members that have lost loved ones to asbestos disease.
Despite all of the evidence that continues to mount, Canada, similar to the United States, has refused to ban asbestos. Fifty countries around the world have banned asbestos. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially stated that all types of asbestos cause cancer. This affects all different trade unions such as insulators, pipefitters, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, engineers, boilermakers and many members of the military.
Hopefully governments will start to listen to the injured and stop industry from using this toxic substance.
