Eco-group, farmers divided on plan for stricter pesticide rules
The Quebec government’s plan to impose stricter guidelines on the use of pesticides that are considered the most hazardous to the environment and human health was both welcomed and criticized after it was unveiled on Sunday.
David Heurtel, the minister of sustainable development, the environment and the fight against climate change announced at a news conference that he will introduce legislation this winter to amend the Pesticides Act.
The pesticides being targeted with the tough new legislation include atrazine and neonicotinoids, which will now need to be prescribed by an agronomist. In addition, the number of pesticides banned for use in urban areas will jump to 60 from 20. The government is also proposing to tax pesticides according to their level of toxicity.
Heurtel said it was time for Quebec to “step up our efforts” to reduce the risks associated with pesticide use.
Neonicotinoids are recognized as one of the causes of the decline of bee colonies and some pesticides have been linked to illnesses of the nervous system and cancer.
The environmental group Équiterre welcomed the initiative as a
major victory for environmental groups, applauded the plan and hailed it as “pioneering” since it would make Quebec the first jurisdiction in North America to restrict the use of atrazine.
“Many of the pesticides that are regulated in Quebec are suspected of having troubling impacts on human health and the environment,” Karel Mayrand, director general of the David Suzuki Foundation in Quebec, said in a statement.
Radio-Canada reported in October that Quebec had lost control of pesticides as sales skyrocketed and a worrying presence of toxins was showing up in the environment.
But the province’s association of professional farmers, the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), was not impressed with the proposed legislation, calling the new measures “disappointing and incomplete.”
They will bury farmers under tons of paperwork by increasing administrative requirements, UPA president Marcel Groleau said in a statement.
“Smaller agricultural businesses will be prime targets because they do not have the means or the time to keep pace with increasingly burdensome administrative requirements,” he said. “It is not normal that farmers spend more time in their offices than in their fields.”
He said the products have been approved by Health Canada and are intended to control weeds and protect crops from pests and diseases. With the global economy, he said, international competitors will “have a distinct advantage” over Quebec by not being subject to such requirements.
To improve pest management of crops requires investments in research, training and screening tools, he said, adding that Quebec already has the strictest rules in Canada.
“This is not what I call a step in the right direction.”