Pity LAB Chrysotile Inc. president John LeBoutillier. While every other sector of the Canadian mining industry has boomed in recent years, asbestos (er, chrysotile) remains under a cloud. Asbestos Corp.'s mining arm, LAB Chrysotile Inc., is one of two producers of asbestos in Thetford Mines and Asbestos, Quebec's once-prosperous cities of "white gold." India and China still use scads of the stuff, but customers in the developed world have vanished. In July, LAB Chrysotile filed for bankruptcy protection, hoping to reorganize itself.
- 1876 Farmer Joseph Fecteau, out looking for blueberries near Thetford, scrapes fibres off a rock and discovers the Western world's largest known asbestos deposit. Five years later, several mines have set up shop.
- 1909 Canada is producing 58,000 tonnes of asbestos for use as insulation in pipes and boilers, in railway brakes and clutches, and as an ingredient in cement. Second-place Russia produces 12,000 tonnes.
- 1943 Doctors note cases of lung disease among asbestos miners and workers who install it in U.S. warships.
- 1949 More than 5,000 miners around Asbestos, Que., strike for four months. A lawyer by the name of Pierre Trudeau arrives on a motorcycle to advise the union. Catholic Church leaders and newspapers side with the strikers, sparking the Quiet Revolution.
- 1973 Canadian asbestos production peaks at 1.7 million tonnes. Exports, mostly to the U.S., reach $1.1 billion.
- 1982 Medical journals link asbestos to lung disease, and lawsuits swamp U.S. courts.
Denver-based Manville Corp., owner of the giant Jeffrey open-pit mine in Asbestos, files for bankruptcy, forecasting up to $5 billion (U.S.) in claims from nearly 120,000 victims.
- 1986 After years of legal manoeuvring, Quebec moves to nationalize the asbestos industry and pays U.S. giant General Dynamics more than $80 a share for a 55% stake in Asbestos Corp. Ltd. Minority shareholders cry foul and sue, demanding the same price.
- 2001 Supreme Court of Canada rules against Asbestos Corp.'s minority shareholders.
The share price, which had been driven over $25, plunges below $5.
- 2005 Asbestos's mayor, Jean-Philippe Bachand, calls for a debate to rename the town.
Alternatives include Trois Lacs and Phoenix.
- 2007 The Canadian Cancer Society urges Ottawa to ban exports of chrysotile (the variety of asbestos the industry says is safe to use), and to cease blocking international efforts to have it classified as a dangerous substance.
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