Doctors in Canada are accusing their government of hypocrisy over its approach to asbestos.

Canada used to be the world's largest exporter of the potentially deadly building material until health concerns gained traction last century.

Now asbestos is only used in Canada in exceptional circumstances.

But a business leader has asked the government in Quebec to support a new mine, which would send five million tonnes of asbestos to Asia.

Human rights activist Kathleen Ruff has arranged public awareness events across Quebec.

"To say 'please don't do this, please do not finance a new generation of asbestos disease in our country'," she said.

"They are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to remove it from all the schools in Quebec and public buildings.

"And so they don't use it, but they want to start a new mine to export five million tonnes of asbestos over the next quarter of a century.

"It would all go to the poorest countries where there is virtually no protection for people."

Ms Ruff has written a book about Canada's asbestos exports. She says the industry has been dwindling but could soon get a new lease on life.

"This international consortium of anonymous investors wants to buy an underground mine that was built in the 1990s and was almost completed but it never was finished. So they want to buy it, complete it and then export huge amounts of asbestos," she said.

The consortium has asked the Quebec government for a $58 million loan guarantee.

President of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr Jeff Turnbull, says Quebec should refuse.

"Canada's doctors do not support having a set of standards that are appropriate for Canadians and not the same for other citizens of our trading partners," he said.

The new mine would yield white asbestos or chrysotile. Dr Turnbull says that type causes mesothelioma, lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases.

"In Canada it's classified as a hazardous substance. It's used in very limited circumstances and only under precautions," he said.

Canada has also come under fire from the medical journal The Lancet.

In an article out today, the journal's media relations manager, Tony Kirby, says the Canadian and Quebec governments "refuse to accept advice from public health and medical organisations that asbestos in all forms is deadly".

He writes that "exporting asbestos-related death and disease to developing countries is an abhorrent practice that must end".

Laurie Kazan-Allen coordinates a group that is trying to ban asbestos internationally. She says the plan is wrong.

"A high-income country like Canada dumping their asbestos on countries where there are no health and safety regulations, the population is completely exposed to any sorts of hazardous exposure - it's pretty reprehensible," she said.

Ms Kazan-Allen says Canada has also blocked attempts by the World Health Organisation to include white asbestos on a list that alerts nations if they are about to import hazardous substances.

Protests against the new Canadian mine have been held in Seoul and Tokyo and more are planned for Quebec, Paris and London.