chicot60
05-13-2011, 08:22 PM
By Marianne White, Postmedia News
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/4610829.bin
Claude Lortie, a supervisor at the site of Mine Jeffrey Inc., looks at the 2.5 kilometre-wide asbestos mining pit, in the town of Asbestos, Quebec, last year.
QUEBEC — The Quebec town of Asbestos — home to Canada's last asbestos mine — was ridiculed Thursday night on a popular American comedy show.
The comedian Jon Stewart, known for making fun of Canada and its politics, aired a satirical report on "The Daily Show" on the 7,000-person town, located about 150 kilometres east of Montreal.
The tongue-in-cheek story, filmed on location in Quebec, mocked the local authorities' attachment to asbestos, a mineral linked to cancer and lung disease.
Entitled "Ored to Death", the report produced by one of the show's reporters Aasif Mandvi pokes fun at the president of Jeffrey Mine, Bernard Coulombe, and the town director, Georges Gagne.
"Does asbestos mean something different in French than it does in English?" Mandvi asked Coulombe. "Because in English, it means slow, hacking death."
Later in the five-minute segment, the Indian-born Mandvi called Coulombe a "douchebag" for exporting the asbestos to India, where he still has family.
Coulombe also took a beating for saying asbestos is "relatively safe" if used properly.
A Canadian Medical Association doctor dismissed that assertion in the report and Mandvi pointed out that some 100,000 people die each year in connection with exposure to asbestos.
For years, Canada and Quebec have been under pressure from scientists and health groups to stop exporting asbestos because of how its toxic elements are linked to cancer.
The use of asbestos is highly regulated in Canada because it is considered a hazardous product.
The federal government allows it to be exported, arguing it is not dangerous if handled properly. But critics say this is a hypocritical approach because once the product has left Canada, there is nothing that can be done about how companies elsewhere — often in the Third World — require their workers to use it.
Read more: http://www.canada.com/health/Quebec+town+Asbestos+mocked+comedy+show/4780690/story.html#ixzz1MGXOGwQF
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/4610829.bin
Claude Lortie, a supervisor at the site of Mine Jeffrey Inc., looks at the 2.5 kilometre-wide asbestos mining pit, in the town of Asbestos, Quebec, last year.
QUEBEC — The Quebec town of Asbestos — home to Canada's last asbestos mine — was ridiculed Thursday night on a popular American comedy show.
The comedian Jon Stewart, known for making fun of Canada and its politics, aired a satirical report on "The Daily Show" on the 7,000-person town, located about 150 kilometres east of Montreal.
The tongue-in-cheek story, filmed on location in Quebec, mocked the local authorities' attachment to asbestos, a mineral linked to cancer and lung disease.
Entitled "Ored to Death", the report produced by one of the show's reporters Aasif Mandvi pokes fun at the president of Jeffrey Mine, Bernard Coulombe, and the town director, Georges Gagne.
"Does asbestos mean something different in French than it does in English?" Mandvi asked Coulombe. "Because in English, it means slow, hacking death."
Later in the five-minute segment, the Indian-born Mandvi called Coulombe a "douchebag" for exporting the asbestos to India, where he still has family.
Coulombe also took a beating for saying asbestos is "relatively safe" if used properly.
A Canadian Medical Association doctor dismissed that assertion in the report and Mandvi pointed out that some 100,000 people die each year in connection with exposure to asbestos.
For years, Canada and Quebec have been under pressure from scientists and health groups to stop exporting asbestos because of how its toxic elements are linked to cancer.
The use of asbestos is highly regulated in Canada because it is considered a hazardous product.
The federal government allows it to be exported, arguing it is not dangerous if handled properly. But critics say this is a hypocritical approach because once the product has left Canada, there is nothing that can be done about how companies elsewhere — often in the Third World — require their workers to use it.
Read more: http://www.canada.com/health/Quebec+town+Asbestos+mocked+comedy+show/4780690/story.html#ixzz1MGXOGwQF