Tories threaten widow for using logo in asbestos attack ad

It appears the Conservative government wants to have its cake – or asbestos – and eat it, too.

The Tories are angry at widow Michaela Keyserlingk, whose husband died of asbestos-related cancer, because she is using the party’s logo in a negative ad campaign launched online against them.

The funny thing is – Keyserlingk is only stating the party’s actual position. Which is it, Conservatives? Do you support the export of asbestos or are you advocates for asbestos removal on the grounds that asbestos kills people? You publicly support the exportation, so what’s wrong with someone reminding the public of that?

Keyserlingk is angry after mesothelioma, the cancer caused by asbestos, killed her husband in 2009. As a result, she’s launched a banner ad that reads: “Canada is the only western country that still exports deadly asbestos!” with the Conservative logo appearing beside the text.

Dan Hilton, the Conservative party’s executive director, has warned Keyserlingk to stop using the logo immediately. He emailed her in July to warn her that “failure to do so may result in further action” because the ad constitutes an “Unauthorized use of trademark.”

Keyserlingk acknowledges that she’s breaking the law and says she’ll cancel the ad if a high-ranking Conservative party official meets with her to explain why it supports asbestos exportation.

Asbestos exposure directly causes cancer, weakening the cells that fight malignant growths, and Keyserlingk’s husband is just another concrete example of what asbestos does to the body. Yet, as has been made very public in recent months, the Canadian government continues to support its exportation. We know enough about its harmful nature to undergo asbestos remediation wherever possible in on our own soil – yet we still export it.

Kudos to Keyserlingk for battling the menace that killed her husband after he worked on Canadian naval ships. She said he “died a horrible, horrible death – I mean these people suffocate.”

If stories like hers aren’t enough to make our government stop exporting asbestos, what is?

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