By Natasha Geerts

Summer is here, and trudging around my garden, it's hard to imagine it buried under five feet of snow! In this beautiful, glaring summer heat, wouldn't you just love to get out your hose and spray your lawn with 2,4-D-enhanced lawn care products? Well, if you live in Québec, then too bad for you! You will have to either accept those weeds in your green lawn or pull them out the old-fashioned way because, in March 2003, Québec became the first Canadian province to ban pesticide use for cosmetic lawn-, garden- and park-care purposes.

Dow Chemical
With manufacturing plants in several Canadian cities, Dow Chemical produces chemicals and plastics that are used to make products in various sectors, including personal care, transportation and home construction.

Dow was made infamous over ongoing controversy over their responsibility for compensating victims of the Bhopal Disaster. In 1984, Union Carbide, a company purchased by Dow in 2001, exposed 500,000 people in Bhopal, India, to toxic gases, killing 10,000 people within 72 hours and 25,000 since then. Dow continues to refuse to help clean up the area that is still highly contaminated.

Michelle Obama
In a major blow to the pesticide lobby in the USA, even the First Lady has an organic garden! It may just seem like a little garden, but it is a symbol of change in Washington and it has Agribusiness upset. After news of the garden hit the airwaves, Mid America CropLife Association, an industry association representing more than 60 companies, wrote Michelle Obama a public letter explaining why pesticides are good for America. The letter went so far as to hint at her misguided ignorance for using "unconventional" gardening methods.

Pesticide Ban
In April 2009, Ontario became the second province in Canada (after Québec) to ban the use of conventional pesticides for cosmetic purposes. Earth Day (April 22nd) was the date set for 250 products to be banned for sale in stores in Ontario.

In 2006, Québec raised its standards so that 210 lawn care products are off the market here for containing active ingredients that are considered toxic to humans and to the environment.

Many municipalities across Canada have banned the cosmetic use of pesticides, many of them in British Columbia. The Canadian Cancer Society has been active in pushing for the province-wide ban on pesticide sales there.

NAFTA
In August 2008, Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical, filed a notice of action against Ottawa on grounds that the Québec ban on pesticides violates NAFTA's chapter 11. Dow claims that 2,4-D, a chemical they use in many herbicides, is safe and that Québec's decision to ban it was an arbitrary one. The notice of action was made public by the Federal Government in October 2008.

According to a joint briefing note made March 24th 2009 by the David Suzuki Foundation, Ottawa University's EcoJustice and Équiterre: "Dow's claim will be brought under NAFTA article 1105 (minimum standard of treatment, including fair and equitable treatment in accordance with international law) and article 1110 (expropriation or measure tantamount to expropriation). Dow is seeking $2 million in damages, as well as ‘further relief, including additional damages'."

Dow argues that the Québec ban was imposed without scientific justification and disputes the cancer risk associated with 2,4-D.

While some studies show that these pesticides can be used safely, other studies have shown that they are linked with cancer, neurological impairment and other health problems. Proponents of the ban claim that it is not worth the serious health-risks these chemicals pose to people - especially children, who are more susceptible - for something as unnecessary as ridding your lawn of dandelions - which, incidentally, I have actually seen for sale at the grocery store as a salad green.

Hugo Séguin, a coordinator at Équiterre, says: “Dow's actions clearly shows(sic) that, for this company, promoting its economic interests trumps public health concerns. Shame on Dow. This kind of irresponsable(sic) corporate behaviour has no place in Québec and Canada.”

The final decision as to whether or not such provincial regulations violate Canada's NAFTA commitments may rest in the hands of a panel of three arbitrators.

Take Action
To take action, visit the David Suzuki Foundation web site and write to your Premier to voice your support for provincial pesticide bans: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/GardenContest/Take_Action.asp.

Links
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090327/nafta_pesticide_090329/20090329?hub=Canada
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/04/05/bc-cancer-society-pesticides.html
http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/montreal/story.html?id=50a34c28-106f-4ced-8376-619db1f348d9
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/261683