Added: 5 months ago
From: MercerReport
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  • I don't mind using asbestos, but... This most be done really carefully : it could be safe during and after construction, if the maintenance is done well... A bit like in the WTC in New-York. However, demolition prove to create some difficulty (sadly, same example).

    The fact is that nobody use it safely because it is a pain in the ass, it is costly so... Maybe stop being stupid with this and not sell it. It will still be there, and when better way to use it will exist...

  • all brands will fail

  • Rick is exaggeration the effects of Asbestos...

  • @Trepur349 No he isn't, ask a doctor about it.

  • @BoredomCorner wikipedia suggests otherwise...

  • @Trepur349 You can't trust anything Wikipedia says.

  • @Trepur349 he isnt. it IS that bad. when you get that stuff in your system you get the effects in around 10 years. the effects? DEATH

  • Well its Harpers as"bestos" friend!

  • rick you rule

  • The asbestos catastrophe is one more example of Harper's agenda being played out according to his plan, ie. put corporate profits before everything else. Harper and his supporters have successfully destroyed Canada's international relationship and remade this country into one of the bad guys of the world. The tar sands, aggressors in war, lower taxes for the richest segment of the country, more prisons, the list of backward moves is a long one thanks to Steve and the boys.

  • @mbpaul10 True enough, altho Liberal governments also supported the sale of asbestos too. The corporate profit is relatively insignificant ~$90m/yr, which won't even cover the HST on the lawsuits Canada will eventually face. This appears to be about Quebec jobs/votes.

  • I'm not a Canadian but I thought you'd like this joke:

    This guy saw a fire at a warehouse and he asked one of the firemen there if they'll be able to get it out. The fireman said: "We're going to try to asbestos as we can!!!"

  • vote in canada

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  • Stephen Harper disliked this video

  • Quebec's PM (Charest, booo!) is all for selling asbestos to India, said it's up to them to implement laws against its use... wow, how mature!

  • @HalfFullYeah Premier, not PM.

  • @Bullfrog1983 the difference is Harper is spending our dollars promoting it, read the news,

    The Harper government is using your tax money -a $750,000 grant over three years to the Chrysotile Institute, the industry's lobby group -to promote Canadian asbestos exports. It's money for murder.

  • Wow...

  • Comment removed

  • @ha6464 Wow indeed - Canadians should be taking to the streets over this, or at least sharing this video with everyone who has a conscience.

  • Conservatives, trading foreign lives for a profit

  • I lost my great uncle to lung cancer due to asbestos exposure, and I commend you, Rick, for putting the message out there and shining a light on this situation.

  • When he said Maple Leaf I thought he was comparing to compare asbestos to listeria.

  • reminds me of denseglass.

  • conservative candidates support the continuation of these mines

    imagine if another country sold us a product that they knew was dangerous - what would we think of them?

  • @OneCosmicParent Exactly, if they sold it to us, and pretended it was safe, what would we call that? The liberal governments have also supported this hypocrisy - all in the name of politics.

  • @calabrone08 - oh yes sorry - I didn't intend to say the LIEbrals were any better - just that I've seen the pc's speaking towards this during this election campaign in ON. Left Right - both wings of the same corruption. Vote left vote right it doesn't matter - the gov't always wins!

  • @OneCosmicParent I agree, the Harper conservatives have overtly supported the asbestos lobby, the liberals were more covert. How much principle you sacrifice depends on how bad you want the (Quebec) vote.

  • Hey this guys still alive.

  • Yes it's dangerous but if India is in the market looking for asbestos and they are aware of the dangers and they still want it, fuck it sell them the stuff

  • @Reidiculous22 This attitude epitomizes the Canadian government policy of selling asbestos. Canadians have to decide if this is the global citizen we wish to be. Also, the Canadian government has gone to extreme lengths to hide the risks at the Rotterdam convention.

  • amen

  • FUCKING LOBBY

  • stephen harper watched this video.... (only one dislike) >:}

  • beautiful work Rick.

  • please watch our latest upload about a mother and child urging Harper to stop exporting asbestos, after watching a family member die due to abestos exposure. it is a powerful, touching story, and would mean a lot to Cathy. thanks!

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  • @OperationMaple Superb. This video says it all - painful and factual, with the medical truth about asbestos. Share it with all Canadians and ask them if this is their Canada.

  • it makes me sick to my stomach that this is happening!

  • Amen brother.

  • how is this even possible?!?! i also saw a piece on John Stewart on this.

    America i can understand but Canada?! really?!?!?!

  • @alvisc2002 Excellent question. IMO: Politics (Quebec jobs) and an unknowing Canadian public.

  • s/o to rick mercer for keepin it 100

  • Right on Rick.

  • @QCprepper I didn't say "let's stop using oil overnight" Obviously that wouldn't be feasible.

  • The World Health Organization, the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Public Health Association and a chorus of other international health organizations say Canada is wrong on the export of asbestos and should stop. The Canadian government & the Asbestos Industry are alone.

  • Fibrous Asbestos is dangerous, rock Asbestos isn't dangerous.

  • Occupational asbestos related deaths kill more workers in Canada than any other cause... up to 300 per year in BC... but who's counting? I lost my Dad to mesothelioma in 2006 and the physician marked 'Natural Cause' as the cause of death... even though there is a box marked 'Asbestos' on the form.

  • well said, Rick

  • and they are willing to allow it to sit in the ceilings of my school... just dont open up the walls you'll be fine!

  • This is brilliant, huzzah Rick!

  • Wow!

  • I lost two parents to occupational and para-occupational exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused only by exposure to asbestos. We spentd billions of dollars on cancer research and here we have one cancer that is entirely preventable. Ban asbestos world wide. By the way, the asbestos that killed my father and mother is the very same asbestos that we now export The same substance. At the very least it should be listed trough the Rotterdam Convention as hazardous..

  • Strange: Replace asbestos with oil from the tarsands and replace 3rd world countries with the US and you could have a whole other rant. Oil and asbestos, both are killers but on different time scales

  • @07helena89 your right; lets stop using oil overnight. Except we wont have transportation, so unless you grow your own food you wont have any, assuming without tractors and fertilizer any food can be had. The drinking water system would also collapse; it needs energy to stay pressurized. Various websites like google and youtube would go offline, because the gigawatts needed to power the servers wouldnt be available. Most factories would close, so you and everyone else loses his job as well.

  • Gee, that's funny self righteous Quebecers bashing Alebertans (taking our tax money) and accusing us of everything with the Tarsands and they themselves export a lethal material. The game may finally be up. Good luck with all your mudslinging at Alberta Quebec!

  • bbg5000 ... You see, bleach is labeled dangerous when it's shipped. Because in Ethiopia they don't use it their washing machines in their condos as they watch the news and because it is ethically appropriate to label something dangerous as dangerous. Canada fought the labeling of asbestos as hazardous...which it is. It is a disgrace.

  • It's not like it's some big secret that asbestos can kill you. It's not like all of us "first" worlders know, yet those unintelligent third world folks don't. Why is it our Government's job to protect foreign workers? If Canada was exporting bleach, and Ethiopian's were drinking it by the gallon, would we be responsible?

    For fuck sakes. If it was going to the US and they were doing this, nobody would be blaming Canada.

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  • @bbg5000 Classifying asbestos as hazardous would allow the governments of recipient countries to refuse imports if they didn't think it could be safely handled. Blocking this put us in the venerable company of Vietnam, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The fact that the Canadian government is trying to tell the international community that asbestos isn't hazardous is pretty appalling.

  • @bryce4231 The governments of recipient countries CAN refuse to allow it to be used. That's what governments do. Canada isn't the only country producing asbestos, nor are we the only country exporting it, nor are we the largest producer of the stuff. It's also used in Canada, so it's not like we've decided it's too dangerous here, but it's okay there.

    We can't control other countries regulations.

  • @bbg5000 It's use is severely restricted for very limited applications in Canada & requires essentially a space suit. Break a ceiling tile with it and there's an evacuation. We have exactly decided "it's too dangerous here, but it's okay there."

  • @bbg5000 This line of reasoning would mean drug dealers should not be charged, only users. The big issue is that 99.9% of Canadians have no idea we are still peddling asbestos, and that Canada has aggressively blocked putting so much as a warning sticker on it. Mercer makes a very important point - this is criminal behaviour.

  • @calabrone08 Canada still uses asbestos in buildings. So does the United States. There are many other applications of this mineral. We're not "peddling" it. We are selling it, to countries who want to use it.

  • @bbg5000 We are currently removing Quebec asbestos from the Parliament buildings and 24 Sussex, as well as any other building it is being found in Canada. It's use is severely restricted here, but sold as a powder to the 3rd world with no warnings whatsoever.

  • @bbg5000 thumbs up... Unfortunately for you and me most of youtube is full of armchair socialists who never did a days work in their lives and have no clue what reality is.

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  • @QCprepper Life and reality exists well beyond quebec you know that right?

  • @humparepatta Yes, i do. having said that, charity starts in the home. Plus, you do realise what a hypocrite you are by saying that right? If i advocated we go to third world countries to help run their governments to remove corruption and instill peace and prosperity, youd no doubt be calling me a warmongering imperialist. and when i advocate we do nothing, you call me cold and inhuman. So pick your poison...

  • @QCprepper Your arguments make no sense! Do you sincerely think your superhero government can go in and clean up corruption in third world? It leads to Iraq and Afghanistan. You have to let nations decide for themselves how they are going to educate their people. Once theyre educated they will not wanna touch asbestos even with your "PPE" on just like we dont like to deal with that cancer here in Canada. Therefore you are wrong in both ways. You belong in the 1800s

  • @bbg5000 thumbs up... Unfortunately for you and me most of youtube is full of armchair socialists who never did a days work in their lives and have no clue what reality is.

  • rick mercer was the only person that ever got me interested in politics

  • Wow. We're dicks. 

  • @azngirlchibi yes lets blame ourselves. and its our fault theres famine, 911, the illuminati and all else thats wrong with the world. as everyone who isnt an apologist has said, the dangers arent hidden; either take appropriate action or dont, but dont blame us. We warned you...

  • @QCprepper ....

    I sincerely hope you're being sarcastic, because I'm not aware of making any sort of reference to famine, 911, or the Illuminati. I thought I was very clear when I made that comment that I was talking specifically about this video - however, to clear this up, I also would like to add that I wasn't talking about whale-hunting, global warming, or corrupt government officials. If I missed anything, please feel free to STFU and GTFO.

  • Hmm, lets see. If you dont wear proper PPE, asbestos will kill you. True. So will various other chemicals. So why not pass a law requiring anyone who, as rick said, goes near asbestos must wear a mask. Why not paint a large "PPE MANDATORY" on the side, instead of wasting time with the UN.

  • @QCprepper Foreign countries are outside our jurisdiction. They have to pass their own laws, and they aren't doing it because "Canada says it's safe".

  • @sevandyk No i mean Canada spray paints on every sheet of asbestos "PPE required; lung damage likely without" or something similar. Once we have warned someone, whether or not they heed the warning is their own damned fault. Its been that way since biblical times and its the only way of doing business that makes sense...

  • @QCprepper Oh, that's a good point. Because laborers in India have easy access to PPEs. Lordy lord. This isn't about just passing the buck, making it "not our fault", but about doing the actual, honest-to-goodness right thing.

  • @sevandyk Honest to goodness right thing sounds like code for "socialism". there are plenty of things we could actually do, like donating PPE btw; we dont need a big government solution that will either be ignored or end with someone losing his job. We warned them; the white man as you must think of me didnt hide the knowledge that asbestos is dangerous. If i yell "truck" and you still walk into the street and are run over, is it my fault?

  • @QCprepper It was normal in Biblical times to kill women for not being virgins, but that's been done away in any rational and civilized country.

  • @BoredomCorner Good answer; ignore all relevant arguments, and embark on an irrelevant tangent about how the bible called for things that are admittedly wrong. you should try out for the liberal party of Canada with that kind of argument winning skill.

  • @QCprepper @BoredomCorner

    His "irrelevant tangent" was in response to Ur unsubstantiated claim that "Its been that way since biblical times and its the only way of doing business that makes sense"

    BTW, Ur replies on this page using the "liberal party or socialism or armchair socialist bums" are also irrelevant to the current topic about exporting asbestos w/o warning labels. These are just your projections on other ppl whom U don't know anything about! Ur mentality is SO hyper-partisan! sad...

  • @valentin6li Ezekiel 33:4-6 mr unsubstantiated.

    And no, my remarks that its a very socialist thing to have a government shut down an entire industry sector are well on the mark. And i do know about them by their arguments; advocating a big government or in the case of the UN super-governmental solution to a problem is called socialism, in spite of what your college professors will tell you in the goal of keeping their paychecks coming.

  • @QCprepper

    Also in all your arguments/comments on this page, you did not even get to the key point that Rick made. It is the sad fact that during the Rotterdam Convention, Canada has fought AGAINST putting warning labels on OUR hazardous exports, knowingly. This is irresponsible, even from a business point-of-view. I don't see how your arguments can somehow turn this issue into a "capitalist vs socialist" one. But I guess you tend to see everything in this political false dichotomy or something

  • @valentin6li No, Canada fought against an un-elected, illegitimate super-governmental body from shutting down an entire industry sector because someone isnt using proper safety precautions. theres an important distinction you need to make between parliament and the UN by the way...

  • @valentin6li You make the great point about actions our government has taken that are completely inconsistent with Canadians values.

  • @QCprepper

    the problem is Canada has fought tooth and nail to prevent any warning of hazard going on our asbestos exports (at the Rotterdam convention).

  • @calabrone08 Yes, we have fought hard against an un-elected super-governmental body shutting down an entire industry sector because someone a continent away isnt taking proper safety precautions. i think we should spray paint a warning on the side of each board of asbestos, and thats it. If you warn someone and they still do something, is it your fault?

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  • Might as well be saying that cigarettes won't kill you. Harper has done some good stuff, but really... IS HE STUPID OR SOMETHING? How does he not care about it killing people?

  • Dear Mr. Harper would you let your children play with asbestos? that's what I thought now please completely shut out those quebecois from even talking about it for the love of couple of dollars! we can make it somewhere else!!! arghhhhh

  • @humparepatta what about the Quebecers who mine asbestos for a living; if we do what you say, their children will have no toys left, because daddy has no job and can barely put food on the table now. How do you feel mr morally correct, firing people and condemning them to destitute poverty because someone a continent away isnt wearing PPE?

  • Comment removed

  • @humparepatta Yes, lets definitly go with the most extreme example possible. We arent selling a genocidal weapon t an uneducated simian. we are selling a dangerous product to someone who is aware of the dangers and chooses to do nothing or cant be bothered to do anything. Maybe instead you should concentrate on a charity to buy PPE for indian workers or lobbying the indian government, instead of punishing our workers for someone elses decisions.

  • @QCprepper You are assuming what a reasonable Canadian would - that we are providing the warnings. Check the facts - Canada has fought any warning of hazards with asbestos to countries it is shipping it to.

  • @QCprepper The opium trade provides jobs - doesn't make it right. There is a call for 'just transition' for workers that would be displaced by shutting down the export of asbestos. Selling a substance that is acknowledged throughout the scientific community as a carcinogen, without even suggesting that PPE should be used (vis a vis the Rotterdam Convention) is morally indefensible.

  • All Asbestos produced in Canada is produced in Quebec. So I blame Quebec.

  • Thank you rick! keep putting out the message

  • ya wake up harper some one is in your back pocket

  • Right on Rick!!

  • It's not like they weren't selling asbestos before Harper. They were doing that when I was a kid. It's definitely something that they should get rid of though.

  • @Bullfrog1983

    That isn't a good excuse though, "Other people did it! It is not just Harper's fault." ...

  • @valentin6li I'm not excusing anything, I'm saying that he should get rid of it - going to high school with asbestos sucked and I definitely support Rick Mercer in this issue.

  • @Bullfrog1983

    Sure, Canada was selling it before Harper, but Mercer's point is surely that Harper had a chance to stop the sale of asbestos. He didn't take it.

  • That's our great Hypocrite... err I mean harper Government, hard at work creating jobs at home while contributing to population control in the 3rd world....

  • 2nd

  • Asbestos.... Subject to being thrown in JAIL by the Harper Government. Wait...that's not true. Harper....Subject to being thrown in JAIL by The Harper Government.

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