Canada

1,000+ Tonnes of Asbestos Removed From Canadian Parliament Buildings

"While the Canadian government continues to block the inclusion of chrysotile asbestos from a UN agreement on hazardous materials, millions of dollars are being spent to remove the controversial substance from the Parliamentary Buildings and since Aug. 31, a combined total of more than 1,000 metric tonnes of asbestos have been removed from the West Block and Wellington Building, says Public Works."

Source: Hill Times, 11/28/2011

"Canada's Chronic Asbestos Problem"

"Most of the world, including the medical community, agrees that asbestos is desperately dangerous. The World Health Organization reports that more than 100,000 people die every year from lung cancer and other respiratory diseases due to asbestos exposure. And many more will die, because 125 million people are exposed to asbestos in their workplaces today and every day.

Source: Toronto Globe & Mail, 11/22/2011

"Canada Cuts Environment Spending"

"Canada's Stephen Harper government is spending more than 60 billion dollars on new military jets and warships while slashing more than 200 million dollars in funding for research and monitoring of the environment.

Amongst the programmes now crippled is Canada's internationally renowned ozone monitoring network, which was instrumental in the discovery of the first-ever ozone hole over Canada last spring. Loss of ozone has been previously linked to increases in skin cancer.

Source: IPS/Guardian, 11/11/2011

"U.S. Delays Decision on Pipeline Until After Election"

"The Obama administration, under sharp pressure from officials in Nebraska and restive environmental activists, announced Thursday that it would review the route of the disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline, effectively delaying any decision about its fate until after the 2012 election."

Source: NY Times, 11/11/2011

"Slaughter of Horses Goes On, Just Not in U.S."

"LINCOLN, Neb. -- The closing of the country’s last meat processing plant that slaughtered horses for human consumption was hailed as a victory for equine welfare. But five years later just as many American horses are destined for dinner plates to satisfy the still robust appetites for their meat in Europe and Asia."

Source: NY Times, 10/25/2011

"Meet the Tar Sands PR Wizard"

"This summer, as environmental groups converged on Washington, DC, to protest the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a Canadian 'grassroots' nonprofit by the name of Ethical Oil went on the counteroffensive. The group's YouTube videos and TV ads all carried the same blunt message: You can buy oil from Saudi Arabia and bankroll terrorism, the oppression of women, and fanatical Islam, or you can buy oil from Canada, your friendly, democratic neighbors to the north."

Source: Mother Jones, 10/21/2011

"WHO Rebukes Would-Be Quebec Asbestos Magnate"

"Baljit Chadha, the entrepreneur behind Quebec’s controversial asbestos exports, has earned a rare public rebuke from an official with the World Health Organization for distorting its position on the safety of the carcinogenic product.

'We have been receiving a lot of expressions of concerns from around the world that the WHO has been misquoted,'Ivan Ivanov, the team leader of occupational health at the WHO Department of Public Health and Environment, said in a phone interview from Geneva.

Source: Toronto Globe & Mail, 10/19/2011

"Explosion Rocks Regina Refinery"

"REGINA -- Shaken by an explosion that some described as a massive fireball, workers huddled in groups in the fields surrounding the Consumers' Co-operative Refineries Ltd. (CCRL) in north Regina on Thursday afternoon. Ten construction workers were injured in the explosion. Eight were taken to hospital to be treated for burns, two were treated at the site."

Source: Regina Leader-Post, 10/07/2011

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