Comments on Proposed Amendments to Ontario’s Pesticides Act

Published by: David Suzuki Foundation
Authored by: Lisa Gue

Biodiversity pesticides, Ontario, chemicals and toxins, policy and regulation, agriculture, human health and wellbeing, pollinators

The Government of Ontario’s sweeping “red tape reduction” package – Bill 132, introduced October 28, 2019, and accompanying regulatory changes – includes damaging amendments to the provincial Pesticides Act and Regulations. The David Suzuki Foundation’s comments address specific concerns with the proposal. We call on the government to remove changes to the Pesticide Act from Bill 132 and withdraw the proposed amendments to the Pesticide Regulation. Robust environmental regulation benefits people in Ontario and our environment. Obscuring these changes within an omnibus bill limits public participation and legislative review, increasing the likelihood of negative impacts.