FREDERICTON – From her riding office, Jenica Atwin, Member of Parliament for Fredericton tabled her first private members bill to ban the use of the herbicide glyphosate in Canada.
“Canadians have the right to breathe clean air, drink safe water, and harvest healthy foods from the land,” said Atwin. “Rather than allowing toxic chemicals to be sprayed in Canada until they are proven harmful, we should be exercising greater precaution: banning products until they can be deemed safe.”
The bill, seconded by Green member for Nanaimo-Ladysmith Paul Manly, builds on a growing global consensus in keeping with the recommendations of the International Agency for Research on Cancer that have deemed glyphosate a probable carcinogen.
“The use of glyphosate is also compromising natural climate resilience,” said Manly. “In the forest industry, glyphosate is used to maintain monocultures of trees that have market value and kill off species that form natural fire breaks. To protect species diversity in forests, and the wildlife that inhabits them, this practice must end.”
Atwin finds encouragement in the growing global consensus.
“I look to the leadership of the tens of thousands of New Brunswickers that have asked the province of New Brunswick to stop approving licenses to spray glyphosate over Crown forests,” said Atwin, “and to the leadership of municipalities like Laval who just this week announced a glyphosate ban within city limits. It is my pleasure to take this conversation into the federal realm to support Canadians across the country fighting to protect their health and local biodiversity.”
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