Sierra Club calls out Conservatives’ haste to “review” pest control law

Pulling a fast one on pesticides…

News release from Sierra Club Canada Foundation

Government members of the Federal Standing Committee on Health are using their majority to force a very quick review of the Pest Control Products Act (the law that governs the licensing of pesticides in Canada).

The ‘review’ will only consist of three brief sessions (about 6 hours) and will likely be over by the end of the week. Sierra Club only learned of the review last Wednesday and received an invitation to testify Thursday–very short notice indeed.

Why the big rush? To get it over with quickly before the public knows what’s happening. One acute observer described government members on the committee as ‘railroading’ the Act.

“This a clear attempt to protect the interests of international pesticide manufacturers while avoiding public scrutiny,” said John Bennett, Sierra Club Canada Foundation.

Mr. Bennett will testify before the committee at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 5th. His prepared remarks can be found here.

The Pest Control Products Act makes it almost impossible to override previous decisions when new scientific evidence contradicts ‘science’ provided by the chemical companies. This untenable situation urgently needs to change.

“Qualified requests for a reconsideration of a Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) decision should result in a timely, mandatory review, and we don’t have that now,” said Mr. Bennett. “Given the recent disaster around bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides, there should clearly be a thorough examination of an Act that allowed them on the market in the first place.”