North Vancouver City Council to consider motion supporting call for asbestos ban

NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec. 7, 2016) - At a news conference today in North Vancouver, Mayor Darrell Mussatto announced that North Vancouver City Council will consider a motion on Monday, December 12^th, supporting the CLC's call for a comprehensive ban on asbestos.

"We believe a comprehensive asbestos ban is good public policy and we encourage our federal government not to delay," said Mussatto. "Let's all work together to make this a reality."

The mayor was joined at the event by Councillor Craig Keating, Lee Loftus, British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council President, and Joey Hartman, Vancouver & District Labour Council President.

"I would encourage other city councils to get involved in this issue. Asbestos kills and we need to ban it," said Keating.

Canada's unions have been calling for a comprehensive ban on asbestos for many years. More than 2,000 Canadians die every year from diseases caused by asbestos exposure, like mesothelioma and lung cancer. Death from mesothelioma increased 60 percent between 2000 and 2012.

Internationally, the World Health Organization reports more than 100,000 asbestos-related deaths per year.