The federal government’s proposed pesticide legislation took a major
step forward last week when the Senate approved it in principle and
sent it to committee for hearings.
It is expected to clear the committee and the full Senate this winter.
Once proclaimed into law, it will be the first major overhaul of rules
governing pesticide regulation since 1969.
Health minister Anne McLellan has said it is a government priority.
The legislation cleared the House of Commons last spring and was
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
reintroduced into the new session of Parliament at the Senate level
without requiring a new Commons debate.
Environmentalists and some farm groups are expected to use committee
hearings to reiterate earlier complaints that the bill does not do
enough to reform the Pest Management Regulatory Agency or make
minor-use pesticides more available to farmers.
But most groups believe the new legislation is an improvement on what
exists and will not call on the Senate to kill it.
On Oct. 23, the Senate minority Progressive Conservatives signalled
that they would not try to delay or sabotage the bill.
Senate deputy opposition leader Noel Kinsella told the Senate Oct. 23
the Liberal bill reflects many of the principles for pesticide
regulatory reform advocated by the PCs in the last election.
He said the bill “will incorporate modern risk assessments including
special consideration of children and other groups.”
It also will make the registration system more transparent by creating
a public registry of evaluation reports, Kinsella said.
It may also help make needed pesticides available to farmers, although
he criticized it for not doing enough on the minor-use issue.
