Doctor or Politician?

Dr. Kellie Leitch is not the first doctor to dabble in politics. The recently retired Keith Martin tried to blend the two professions. But the Harper government's refusal to acknowledge that asbestos is a hazardous substance puts Dr. Leitch between a rock and a hard place. And it requires that she make a decision which cannot split the difference.

The Huffington Post reports that the medical profession has sent her a letter, demanding that she uphold her commitment to the Hippocratic oath:

The letter also notes the federal government has spent millions of dollars to remove asbestos from Canadian buildings in order to protect lives — including around the House of Commons.

It notes that the Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Public Health Association and World Health Organization have all called for the use of asbestos to be stopped.

The Conservatives are notorious for making decisions which fly in the face of facts. But  Dr. Gilles Paradis, a professor of medicine at McGill and the editor of the Canadian Journal of Public Health, says:

As a physician, we're sure that she knows the incontrovertible evidence about the harm that chrysotile asbestos produces. We just want to remind her that she has a professional duty to live by the principles of the Hippocratic oath that as physicians we all are supposed to adhere to.

This is a true test of the good doctor's character.

He Likes To See Fear In Their Eyes

 When Wickileaks dumped those American diplomatic cables onto the Internet, we learned that Stephen Harper "likes to see fear in [the] eyes" of his employees. How disconcerting it must be, then, for him to encounter Michaela Keyserlingk, who is neither an employee or --  in Harper's universe -- an important person.

In 2009, Mrs. Keyserlink's husband of forty-seven years died of mesothelioma. A retired professor from the University of Ottawa, he did not smoke and had been the one-time Progressive Conservative riding association president for Ottawa Centre.

Mrs. Keyerlink is outraged that, while Canada removes asbestos from all its public buildings, it continues to export it to third world countries. Moreover, Canada has refused three times to acknowledge -- as  the United Nations does -- that asbestos is a hazardous substance.

To draw attention to the government's hypocrisy, Keyserlink has set up her own website, where she prominently displays the Conservative Party logo. The government has sent her a letter, ordering her to cease and desist. This is a typical tactic for this government. It regularly muzzles ministers and civil servants. But, this time, the tactic has backfired. As Tim Harper (no relation) reports in The Toronto Star:  "In one fell swoop, the party created a folk hero, brought attention to an issue they don’t like to publicize and came across as bullies."

Mrs. Keyerlink has offered to take the logo down, if she is granted a meeting with "a senior government official." Of course, this government refuses to stoop so low.

The Harper government continues to believe that the support of 26% of Canadians gives it a free hand. Oh, what fools these mortals be.

This entry is cross posted at The Moderate Voice.

Facing Facts

My wife and I used to live a half hour away from the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec. My grandmother grew up on a farm just outside Thetford Mines. So asbestos is part of the family history. The problem is that the history of asbestos is fraught with pain, suffering and unnecessary death.

We have known for decades that asbestos, like tobacco, kills. But, like the presidents of the big tobacco companies, Canadian governments -- federal and provincial -- have lived in denial, claiming with Industry Minister Christian Paradis, that asbestos is safe when used  "in controlled circumstances."

As Susan Riley writes in today's Ottawa Citizen, the science is incontrovertible. As for  Paradis' defence of asbestos,

This claim has been roundly rejected by medical and scientific experts, including Peter Goodhand of the Canadian Cancer Society, who insists "all forms of asbestos, including the chrysotile asbestos mined in Quebec, cause cancer."

And yet this week, at a meeting  of the Rotterdam Convention in Switzerland,  Canada refused to recognize asbestos as a hazardous substance. Campaigning in Quebec in April, the prime minister promised that, "this government will not put Canadian industry in a position where it is discriminated against in a market where sale is permitted."

Asbestos used to be vital to the economy of the Eastern Townships. But, more than the health hazards of asbestos, the urbanization of Canada  led to the economic decline of that region. My grandmother was one of twelve children. Six stayed in Canada and moved west -- to Montreal, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Six boarded a train on the old Grand Trunk Railway and headed south to Portland, Maine, spreading out from there. When the population of the high school  where I used to teach declined from 1100 to 300, the four of us -- our two eldest sons were born in Sherbrooke -- headed west. Our third son was born in Ontario.

To this day, I love the Townships. There is no more beautiful place on the planet. But facts are facts. We had to face them and change our trajectory. The Harper government refuses to deal with facts. That is why we are fast becoming an international pariah.