CropLife Canada calls on Ontario government to get serious about science
December 3, 2008 – Ottawa, ON – CropLife Canada called on the Government of Ontario to defer consultations on draft regulations to ban the sale and use of some pesticides until government officials develop scientific criteria for Ontarians to comment on.
"CropLife Canada's board has met to discuss these draft regulations and we are extremely concerned. We believe we have no choice but to challenge the government on this," Richard Rose, board chair of CropLife Canada said. "It's time for the Government of Ontario to get serious about the science because Canadians expect laws governing the products they find on store shelves to be based on sound scientific principles."
"We support the elimination of inappropriate pesticide use. What we don't support is a set of regulations that leaves important questions about scientific criteria unanswered," Dr. Lorne Hepworth, president of CropLife Canada said. Hepworth was speaking to over 350 people attending the association's annual conference.
Without scientific criteria Ontarians do not know:
- why a specific product can – or cannot - be used or sold in Ontario
- what criteria will be used to determine how current and future products will be approved
- why home landscapes – grass, trees, shrubs, flowers, fruit and vegetable gardens – appear to be defined as cosmetic and not worthy of protection
"People have a right to expect that the laws governing the products on store shelves will have a solid, scientific foundation. In fact, Environment Minister John Gerretsen promised they would be," Hepworth said.
"Despite that commitment, these regulations fail to provide scientific rationale and so the right thing for this government to do is to go back to the drawing board, develop sound scientific criteria and then restart consultations once there are criteria for Ontarians to comment on."
Hepworth called on conference attendees to join with the trade association in raising these concerns with the Ontario Government and announced tools to help people do that could be found on the association's website.
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CropLife Canada is the trade association representing the manufacturers, developers and distributors of plant science innovations — pest control products and plant biotechnology — for use in agriculture, urban and public health settings.
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