Canadian Red Cross Exec Ignites Controversy with Asbestos Industry Links

Business and personal relationships with links to the asbestos industry may lead the Canadian Red Cross Society to ask for the resignation of one of its Executive Board Members. Board Member Roshi Chandha hit the headlines earlier this month when anti-asbestos activists questioned the propriety of her serving with an organization known for its humanitarian work around the world.

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Victims of Asbestos Protest Proposal to Reopen Quebec’s Jeffrey Mine

As the Quebec government considers a proposal to re-open the bankrupt Jeffrey asbestos mine by a group of investors – a deal that would involve $58 million in provincial loan guarantees – Ontario families of asbestos victims held a news conference in Toronto in early November. The group, mainly from the Sarnia area, related heartrending stories of the ravages of mesothelioma and the other lung problems engendered by exposure to asbestos.

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Asbestos lobby group hires same PR agency used by tobacco companies

Worried that the rest of the world is figuring out what we Canadians already know, the asbestos lobbyists are turning to PR firm APCO Worldwide. Does the company’s name ring a bell? APCO Worldwide is the PR agency known for defending the Phillip Morris tobacco company in the early 1990s. It set up a group called The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition and tried to dismiss the world’s worries about second-hand smoke as “junk science.”

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What does asbestos exposure do to you?

We’ve talked on the blog before about the importance of asbestos removal and the consequences of exposure to it, including lung cancer. But, to truly understand what Canada is doing when it exports the dangerous material to developing countries, maybe we should look closer at its effects.

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