To the Editor,
Re: B.C. ban on pesticides rejected by committee, May 22.
The British Columbia Special Committee on Cosmetic Pesticide use should be commended for examining the issue of urban pesticide use so thoroughly.
The committee received 8,675 submissions and held 22 meetings where presentations were made by dozens of witnesses including experts from Health Canada, environmental groups, industry organizations, scientific organizations and academics.
In the end, the committee made 17 recommendations, but came to the conclusion that scientific evidence does not warrant preventing British Columbians from buying and using approved pesticides so pesticides should not be banned in B.C.
The committee did its due diligence on this topic and discovered that pesticides in Canada are regulated by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency which employs more than 350 scientists who are experts in their field. The review process involves a comprehensive set of 200 tests and a review of all scientifically credible studies that exist to ensure the product will not cause harm to people, animals or the environment.
If the report from the committee had been different and they had instead recommended a ban, the groups that are unhappy with the actual outcome would be commending the government on a thorough process that looked at all available science before making the decision they did.
It’s ironic that these same groups only like the “growing and suggestive body of evidence” when it yields the answer they want.
Lorne Hepworth
president
CropLife Canada