ASBESTOS EXPORTS
A new look at Canada's $100M asbestos industry

April 20, 2009 -- Canada is the second largest exporter of asbestos in the world. Canada currently exports 200,000 tons of asbestos each year ($100 million worth) to developing nations that have lax or no regulations governing the use of the deadly fiber that kills 90,000 people worldwide every year, according to the World Health Organization.

Latest health statistics for 2005 indicate that 61 percent of all job-related fatalities in Canada were the result of asbestos exposure. Asbestos claimed the lives of 340 Canadians in 2005.

Though use of asbestos has declined in Canada, workplace fatalities related to asbestos have risen. This is attributable to the long incubation period of most asbestos diseases, which can take decades to develop before a diagnosis can be made.

The last remaining asbestos mines in Canada are located in a Quebec community called Thetford Mines. The industry there employs approximately 550 people.

There is legislation before Canada’s House of Commons, filed by Winnipeg MP Pat Martin, to end asbestos exports and improve health services for Canadians enduring the asbestos-related diseases lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Time to seek justice

Weitz & Luxenberg has protected the legal rights of workers for 25 years – longer than most law firms in the nation. And in that time the firm's mesothelioma lawyers have won several billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and seek FREE legal guidance and answers to your concerns, please notify us through the communication form below. We will pursue your claim with vigilance to help you pay for medical bills, future and past lost wages, and damages. There is no cost to you until we win a settlement or a verdict.