TORONTO — Traditional territories of several First Nations including the Williams Treaties First Nations, Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation — Environmental and health groups are in Federal Court today to challenge Health Canada’s renewal of pesticide products containing glyphosate, the chemical used in “Roundup” and other herbicides. The groups say the federal regulatory agency failed to conduct a rigorous, up to date scientific assessment of glyphosate before allowing the renewal of the glyphosate-based herbicide Mad Dog Plus, which is mainly used in forestry and agriculture in Canada.
The case is being brought by Friends of the Earth Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, Safe Food Matters, and Environmental Defence Canada, represented by Ecojustice lawyers.
New science on the harms of glyphosate have emerged since Health Canada last re-evaluated the health and environmental risks of glyphosate in 2017. The evidence shows there are many risks that should have been considered, including the herbicide’s potential to cause:
- cancer;
- an impact on the microbiome;
- neurodegenerative and reproductive toxicity;
- adverse impacts to pollinators (including monarch butterflies);
- ecological harms to freshwater ecosystems; and
- more frequent forest fires because of increased use of glyphosate in forestry.
Health Canada renewed Mad Dog Plus in December 2022 without updating its assessment of the risks to consider this more recent evidence of harm.
The use of toxic pesticides like glyphosate is on the rise in Canada. A new report from Ecojustice reveals that Canada is now the fifth largest user of pesticides in the world, with sales increasing a staggering 47 per cent in just a decade. These pesticides pose potential harm to the health of humans and the environment.
Representatives from the groups made the following statements:
Laura Bowman, lawyer, Ecojustice said:
“Glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide in Canada by a large margin, with exposures detected in the urine of 70 per cent of Canadians. Updates to the science are increasingly linking glyphosate-based herbicides to harm to human health and ecosystems. Health Canada granted renewals for Mad Dog Plus, a glyphosate-based herbicide, in 2022 without a transparent assessment of this new science.
“Health Canada must prevent harm to human health and the environment from pesticides. Legislation requires Health Canada to have a full understanding of the potential impacts that risky pesticides, like glyphosate, could have on peoples’ health and the environment before allowing them to be sold and used in Canada.”
Mary Lou McDonald, President of Safe Food Matters, said:
“When renewing a product, Health Canada just brings out the rubber stamp and relies on assessments made years prior. The new science says there are problems, and lawsuits over the old assessment says there are problems, yet they pretend everything is fine. Result? Canadians are putting their trust in a regulator who doesn’t deserve it.”
Cassie Barker, Senior Program Manager for Toxics at Environmental Defence, said:
“Science shows that pesticides are bad news for people, pollinators, soil and water. For far too long our federal government has been drinking the agtech kool-aid and approving and renewing pesticides with harmful consequences.
“Our crops, forests and green spaces need safer solutions that don’t perversely drive pest resistance, and our farm workers and their communities need federal leadership to reduce pesticide-related diseases.”
Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada, said:
“Products such as Mad Dog Plus, containing an active ingredient registered for use in Canada by PMRA, must seek approval every five years to stay on the market. This approval is supposed to include a scientific assessment which should be based on up-to-date science.
“How dare PMRA skip this assessment when current research indicates a relationship between the increase in pesticide use, particularly Glyphosate, and the rise in Alzheimer’s disease prevalence? Just days ago, it was reported that researchers have found that glyphosate has significantly harmed the health of babies in rural U.S. communities over the last two decades.”
Lisa Gue, national policy manager at the David Suzuki Foundation, said:
“Canada has committed to reducing overall pesticide risks by half by 2030 under the Global Biodiversity Framework. But instead, the federal regulator continues to rubber-stamp pesticide renewals and stands by while pesticide sales balloon and nature takes the hit.
“The overuse of pesticides, like glyphosate, is a contributing factor in the decline of several species including the threatened monarch butterfly. The PMRA should evaluate impacts on species at risk before moving ahead with these product renewals.”
Media contacts:
Zoryana Cherwick, Communications Strategist | Ecojustice
1-800-926-7744 ext. 277, zcherwick@ecojustice.ca
Brandon Wei, Communications specialist | David Suzuki Foundation
778-772-6138, bwei@davidsuzuki.org
Lauren Thomas | Environmental Defence
647-687-2687, media@environmentaldefence.ca