Health officials in Quebec have called for the Canadian government to stop supporting the use and mining of asbestos. In a letter to Canada’s health minister, the health officials criticized the country’s government for continuing to support the asbestos industry even after the mineral has been banned in many other countries for its connection to an increased cancer risk and other side effects.

Quebec is home to Canada’s only operational asbestos mine, located in the town of Thetford Mines. Although the mine employs only about 300 workers, the Canadian government has continued to defend asbestos mining and supplied the asbestos industry with funding.

These recent complaints about continued asbestos mining in Quebec come amid reports that the province’s government has failed to release the results of a study investigating the link between cancer and asbestos mining more than eight months after it was received.

Exposure to asbestos has been linked to a number of potentially deadly diseases, including lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that can affect the lining of the heart, lungs or abdomen. Although the treatment of patients who receive a mesothelioma diagnosis is possible, the disease is usually fatal within five years.