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[Levi]

Nothing surprises me more than the fact that Canada actually does things.

Not only that, but sometimes we do evil things.

[LordSlowpoke]

Nothing surprises me more than the fact that Canada actually does things.

Not only that, but sometimes we do evil things.

Canada is the only G8 country still mining and selling asbestos

With this, as mining falls under provincial jurisdiction she managed to force Prime Minister Harper and Minister Paradis to withdraw their support for Quebec’s asbestos industry as of September 14, 2012. The Federal government also stated that they will no longer object to have asbestos listed as a hazardous material under the Conference of Parties of the UN's Rotterdam Convention.  This offer, which is meaningless now, since Russia, the worlds major asbestos producer, will become a party to the Convention as of 2013 and will strongly oppose any  move to include chrysotile asbestos. Our government should have voted to have chrysotile declared a hazardous material when they had the power to do so, now the chance to have this happen are practically none existing.

EXCUSE ME, PRINCESS

russia wasn't suspended from the g8 last year this whole article is therefore confirmed to be filled with animal phalluses

[Levi]

Still true that we sell Asbestos to third world counties, which was the point I wanted to make. 

[LordSlowpoke]

that's not evil that's capitalism

are you forcing the third world countries to buy asbestos

do you just put down trade companies and say "hey [country] if you don't buy our asbestos we'll take out our hockey pucks"

sure asbestos is not a health promoting factor but are you saying that the production of asbestos worldwide should be just handed away to russia that's a very surprising thing to hear considering everybody and their mother hates russia nowadays

[Levi]

That is a terrible way of looking at things.  Why not sell any beef that we find is contaminated with ecoli to third world nations while we are at it?  You can't justify things by saying "That's capitalism".  Lots of people will buy things that aren't good for them, it doesn't mean we should sell them.

[LordSlowpoke]

yeah, except equating these two is bullshit and you know it

there exists beef that is not contaminated and that's fine to sell in my books

there's also beef that is contaminated and that's a big fat nope

the fact that asbestos will fuck your lungs is a thing inherent to asbestos, the fact that your beef is contaminated however does not say that every single piece of beef in the world is contaminated

blaming the producer for the fact that there's demand is thoroughly pointless

[Levi]

yeah, except equating these two is bullshit and you know it

there exists beef that is not contaminated and that's fine to sell in my books

there's also beef that is contaminated and that's a big fat nope

the fact that asbestos will fuck your lungs is a thing inherent to asbestos, the fact that your beef is contaminated however does not say that every single piece of beef in the world is contaminated

blaming the producer for the fact that there's demand is thoroughly pointless

Its not pointless.  You shouldn't sell things that are going to make people sick and die.  Being inherently bad doesn't magically make it fine to sell. 

[timferius]

I have to agree with Levi here, it's pretty sketchtastic that we still sell asbestos. We won't touch the stuff ourselves, but we have no problem selling it. <insert drug dealer "oh hell no, I won't use that crap, it's really bad for you, want to buy some?" analogy here>

[DeKaFu]

I'll probably vote Green, because I live in a riding that's pretty solidly Liberal, but if you live in a place that's pretty neck-and-neck, I think you should vote Liberal/whichever party you want to win of the two, and forget the rest. Unless and until we get to a proportional system (mixed-member seems to get some traction) and some sort of ranked ballot, it's better in a practical sense to vote to keep Harper out than to vote ideologically.

Just checked mine and it looks like it's usually Conservative by a large margin.

Goddamnit.

[LordSlowpoke]

Its not pointless.  You shouldn't sell things that are going to make people sick and die.  Being inherently bad doesn't magically make it fine to sell. 

being inherently bad however, allows you to claim that the consumer has all the means of knowing something is bad. going back to your beef you expect the beef you buy to not be bad, either because it's regulated not to be bad, the producer has little interest in alienating their consumer base by selling inferior product, or simply because it was good in the past

do the consumers actually know it's bad for them? hell if i know. searching for some kinda poll that gauges this seems pointless honestly, as the first three pages of the search engine i'm using boil down to news articles regarding asbestos being dumped somewhere or having been found in something, how to remove asbestos (wow you should probably not do that without some kind of equipment), and the wikipedia article on asbestos and i don't exactly know where to find reliable polls on that either

[timferius]

Oh man, speaking of. I've discovered the linoleum type tiles in my basement almost 95% sure contain asbestos. Was going to tear out the floor and install new flooring (found tiles after tearing up disgusting old carpet that was there when we move din a few years ago) and pretty much everything says that, if you can, just build over it. Asbestos is only bad if disturbed, so barring a rotting floor or something, it's a million times cheaper and safer to just leave it, and you should never ever ever remove it on your own.
God it's awful stuff.

[GreatJustice]

Asbestos isn't a straight up evil thing, though. Yeah, it's carcinogenic (among other things), but it's very cheap, its an excellent insulator and it can used in a wide variety of ways, generally safely as well. Really, the industry is most dangerous to the miners that have to actually get the asbestos in the first place, since they actually disturb it and breathe it in, whereas the people in 3rd world countries that buy it won't even necessarily suffer from the side effects if they just stick it in a wall or something and let it be. Alternatives to asbestos tend to be more expensive and have other drawbacks, otherwise it wouldn't even be sold. There are plenty of things I'm ashamed of my country for, but selling asbestos really isn't one of them.

[Loud Whispers]

A lot of Western militaries still make use of asbestos just fine

[Levi]

A lot of Western militaries still make use of asbestos just fine

Sure its fine until you need to knock down a building with asbestos or remodel it.  Then its expensive to remove, which third world countries wouldn't bother with.

Some more Canadian anti-asbestos propaganda for ya!.  Mostly about the damage we've done to our own people, but still relevant.

[WealthyRadish]

The US needs to send in troops to protect ethnic American puffins from Canadian oppression.