Asbestos, Quebec, finally changes its name

The town of Asbestos, Quebec, has finally got around to changing its name.

During its heyday, the province of Quebec produced some 90% of the world's supply of the toxic, carcinogenic mineral, and the largest single mine was the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, a small town 130 km east of Montreal. The mine closed in 2012, after a flurry of research studies showing just how dangerous the mineral is, and nowadays the name is more of a liability than a point of pride. The town's residents voted on the six favourite options for a new name, with Val-des-Sources ("Spring Valley", I guess) winning out. Now, the daunting process of changing all the various administrative, legal and commercial references begins.

Some residents are apparently still proud of the town's industrial heritage. At least one restaurant has an asbestos-themed menu, and a local brewery boasts of sourcing its water from the lake that now floods the old Jeffrey Mine, both of which seem like brave marketing decisions to me. Most residents, though, are pretty happy to turn the page on a less-than-auspicious part of its history.

What I find really amusing, though, is that asbestos is not even the French word for asbestos, which is usually refered to as amiante.