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A new public registry of federal buildings across Canada that contain asbestos shows more than half of the buildings in Ottawa where public servants work still have the hazardous material.

The registry, promised by Public Services Minister Judy Foote, is hailed as a critical move by labour and health groups pressing the Liberal government to ban asbestos and develop a comprehensive strategy to phase out asbestos.

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They also want the government to work with the provinces and municipalities to broaden the federal registry to include all public buildings with asbestos and to spearhead the creation an inventory where victims with asbestos-related disease can register.

The federal registry was considered a key step in eventually ridding asbestos from buildings the government owns and leases. Federal unions have had cases of federal workers having no idea they were exposed to asbestos in their workplace until they fell ill with asbestos-related diseases.