One of Canada’s prominent environmental lobby groups last week published public opinion surveys suggesting a strong majority of Canadians want farmers to use fewer
pesticides.
The World Wildlife Fund, which sponsored the survey, also said Canadians want Ottawa to quickly pass new and tougher pesticide legislation to get dangerous chemicals off the market.
“All of us are interested in anything we can do to reduce risk,” said Lorne Hepworth, president of the Crop Protection Institute of Canada. “But they consistently oppose scientific advances that would do that. They also do not talk about reduced risk. They talk about reduced use, and the two are not necessarily the same.”
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Bob Friesen, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, said farmers agree that old chemicals should be reviewed and new, safer and more effective active ingredients should be approved for the market.
But he said farmers are nervous about promised government amendments to the Pest Control Products Act that could be too restrictive.
“We need access to the same tools our competitors have,” he said. “We are pushing hard for harmonization with American standards so products that are banned here are not used on products which are imported.”
