In an online posting today by CBC News in Canada, Jim Brophy, the director of the Canadian Auto Workers Union's (CAW) Occupational Health and Safety Clinics for Ontario Workers, stated that the Union fields calls daily regarding asbestos-related health problems and that the number of calls has increased steadily in each of the last three years. According to Brophy, the number of asbestos-related worker deaths is expected to peak in the next decade.

However, states Brophy, Canada is "probably alone among the industrialized countries in not documenting the extent of the disease and its impact on our society." Canada began mining asbestos in 1879 and continues to do so in Quebec, from where it is exported to many developing countries for use in cement pipes and roofing tiles. According to the article, Ottawa and Quebec City spend millions of dollars each year on trade promotion through Canada's Chrysotile Institute. Concerned with the rising number of worker deaths, the CAW has been, and will continue to, campaign the Canadian government for a country-wide ban on asbestos use and production.

Just last week, the U.S. Senate took the first step toward banning asbestos when it unanimously voted to pass the Ban Asbestos in America Act. If it becomes law, the Act would ban the importation, manufacture, processing and distribution of asbestos-containing products in the United States. For more information on the Ban Asbestos in America Act, see Bill to Ban Asbestos Passes Senate, posted October 5th.