Fredericton chapter collects signatures for the petition opposing glyphosate spraying in New Brunswick.
The Council of Canadians Fredericton chapter opposes the herbicide glyphosate.
Radio-Canada International explains, “The provincial government in New Brunswick has been spraying herbicides on 15,000 hectares of crown land since the 1970’s when it first permitted pulp and paper companies to clearcut natural forest and replace it with plantations. The taxpayer funded programme is to benefit the lumber industry by protecting fast growing softwood trees from encroaching hardwood saplings. The hardwood saplings however are an important food supply for deer and moose, and there have been suggestions that the programme has removed thousands of tons of such food and has contributed to the steep decline in moose and deer numbers in the province in the past ten years.”
Tech Times reports, “Monsanto developed the herbicide glyphosate for U.S. crops and marketed it as Roundup in 1974. The chemical soon dominated the pesticide market, eventually becoming the most-used agricultural chemical worldwide.” In March 2015, the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research against Cancer (IARC) found glyphosate ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’. Monsanto has rejected IARC’s classification of glyphosate. In Feb. 2016, ANSES – France’s food, environment and health agency – released an opinion that also concluded that glyphosate is indeed a suspected carcinogen.
Chapter activist Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy tells us, “Several Fredericton Chapter members (together with other volunteers) have been helping to collect over 600 signatures so far for a Stop Spraying New Brunswick petition drive at the Fredericton Boyce Farmers market and other locations every Saturday when weather permits. The Fredericton chapter usually coexists with other action groups on the sidewalk outside the market!”
Stop Spraying in New Brunswick is a group focused on stopping the spraying of glyphosate and other herbicides on public land, which includes forest spraying and NB Power spraying in New Brunswick. The petition is available in English here and in French here. Because of a change in the schedule of the Legislative Assembly, the initial deadline of March 1 for petition signatures has now been extended to April 10. The intention is to deliver this first batch of petitions during the third week of April when the Legislature sits. The group also plans two more petition deliveries – tentatively in May and September.
Further reading
Kent County chapter collects signatures to ban the spraying of glyphosate (Feb. 21, 2016)
