Mr. Speaker, I thank my seconder and colleague, the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith, who is always a strong proponent of protecting our environment.
Today I fulfill a promise I made to my constituents when I ran in 2019. It is an honour to present this bill with the important purpose of imposing a nationwide ban on the use of glyphosate, from our forests to our fields. The widespread use of glyphosate over New Brunswick forests and across Canada is a menace to human health and plant and wildlife biodiversity. There is a growing global consensus that glyphosate, deemed a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has no place in our society.
Rather than allowing toxic chemicals to be sprayed in Canada until they are proven harmful, we should be exercising greater precaution and banning products until they can be deemed safe. Canadians have the right to breathe clean air, drink safe water and harvest healthy food from the land.
I want to thank the leadership of the tens of thousands of New Brunswickers who have bravely fought for years for this ban to be implemented in the hope of ensuring safer communities for generations to come.
