MONTREAL - Asbestos is continuing to make Quebecers sick, says a Montreal environmentalist.
Daniel Green has compiled a list of more than 280 buildings in Quebec that contained asbestos, a carcinogen that has been linked to illnesses including lung cancer.
Green's list was compiled over six months by tracking the public tender process; each time a building is renovated, by law the contractor must be made aware if asbestos is present.
"(It's in) our schools and hospitals, in our CEGEPs and universities," he said, adding that he believes there are hundreds of buildings containing asbestos that the government is not divulging.
Green believes the province should create an asbestos registry with information about current and past asbestos levels.
"(It should reveal) if there has been asbestos in their buildings, if this asbestos is still there, if it has been removed, when it was removed and was it removed safely," he said.
"The people have the right to know that they may be exposing themselves to a carcinogen. It's about the right to know," he said.
Some buildings, like some schools the English Montreal School Board, have had asbestos issues, and officials have chosen to make that information public.
"We removed or contained asbestos in our buildings about a decade ago," said EMSB spokesperson Mike Cohen. "We were very public about it… We have created an inventory of asbestos of every one of our buildings, so we know which building, which rooms, how many rooms in each school, exactly which location."
