Federal Court FOLLOW-UP
By Mary Lou McDonald, Safe Food Matters President
Safe Food Matters took action on Health Canada’s review of glyphosate because we believe in the law and our Court system. We think the law is on our side, and we don’t expect we will be disappointed. It was clear to all in attendance that Justice Sandra Simpson took these matters very seriously.
Hon. Simpson has a heavy burden, particularly in the current context where issues about desiccation with glyphosate and dietary exposure are coming under increasing scrutiny. Kellogg’s recently announced they are phasing out use as a “pre-harvest drying agent”, and the short-term EU renewal of glyphosate imposed strict limits on pre-harvest use. New hard science is coming out that it alters the microbiome of the human gut. And numerous class actions are being launched in Canada.
We believe we raised a scientific doubt about the validity of the glyphosate assessment of Health Canada’s …Read More
MEDIA ALERT
ATTN: Assignment, News, Food, Health, Nutrition, Agriculture and Legal Affairs Editors
WHO: MARY LOU MCDONALD and SAFE FOOD MATTERS INC. v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
WHAT: Federal Court Judicial Review Case Challenging Health Canada’s Renewal of Glyphosate
TIME: 9:30 a.m.
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 2020
PLACE: Federal Court of Canada, 180 Queen Street West, Toronto
Safe Food Matters Inc. (SFM) and its president Mary Lou McDonald will be in Canada’s Federal Court in Toronto on Thursday, January 30, 2020, to challenge Health Canada’s 2017 renewal of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, and the subject of a US$2 billion award in the US (under appeal), and the basis for various class actions being launched in Canada.
In taking the regulator to court, McDonald is asking for judicial review of Health Canada’s decision to reject the notice of objection of SFM …Read More
Court Date & Court Case
Court Date Jan 30 TO
Safe Food Matters has good news, on 2 fronts!
FIRST, we have a court date! It is January 30, 2020, at the Federal Court in Toronto: 180 Queen St. W., starting at 9:30. The public is allowed to attend, so please show up if you are so inclined! We are scheduled for the full day.
Andrea Gonsalves, our fantastic lawyer from Stockwoods LLP, will make her submissions first, then the Attorney General will present. Andrea will then reply. I can’t wait to see her in action! Again, a HUGE shout out to Andrea and Stockwoods for taking on and minimizing the fees on this case: VERY generous and very much appreciated.
SECOND, the Supreme Court of Canada on December 19 released the Vavilov decision, and we think it adds strength to the case we are making, which is that Health Canada did not act reasonably when it rejected our …Read More
#GivingTuesday
We’re taking Health Canada to court over glyphosate.
We know there are many worthy causes out there, but this Giving Tuesday, please consider a donation to the Safe Food Matters legal fund.
Our Giving Tuesday profile:
https://givingtuesday.ca/
Our Go Fund Me page:
https://www.gofundme.com/
Thanks in advance for your support!
Glyphosate: Main Crops of Concern, and Why
Glyphosate is registered in Canada for spraying on the following “Crops of Concern” after the crops have started growing. Glyphosate is showing up in high levels in most of these crops, and our regulators know it.1
WHEAT, BARLEY, OATS
CHICKPEAS
FLAX
LENTILS
MUSTARD
DRY BEANS
CANOLA (GM)
PEAS
SOYBEAN (GM)
FABA BEANS
In Canada, the list of “Common food allergies and related disorders in Canada” includes many of these crops (which names wheat, rye and barley under “Gluten”).
Why are high levels showing up in most of these crops? These crops, prior to “physiological maturity”, are busy pushing nutrients (including minerals) into their seeds. Glyphosate is a chelator that binds with minerals. So if spraying occurs prior to physiological maturity (the time when the seed has been filled), the plant is still pushing minerals and glyphosate into the seed.
So who makes the call on the time to spray? The burden is put on the farmers. They are provided with label recommendations and …Read More
Summary of Health Canada Court Case: Glyphosate
Hello! Here is a short summary of our Federal Court case.
Health Canada in April 2017 approved the registration for glyphosate use in Canada until 2032 or later.
Safe Food Matters and 7 other groups filed notices of objection in late June 2017.
In January 2019, Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) under Health Canada rejected all the objections.
SFM and our President, Mary Lou McDonald, decided to take the last legal step possible: asking the Federal Court to review the legal basis for the rejections.
Mary Lou is a retired lawyer. She drafted and filed the notice of application in February 2019.
But she is not a court lawyer, so we hired Andrea Gonsalves of Stockwoods LLP, a vegan who is passionate about the case. They have kindly agreed on a “not to exceed”.
The goal is an independent review of the basis for the registration of glyphosate, which could lead to a full or partial ban.
At …Read More
Going to Court!
SAFE FOOD MATTERS Going to Court Over Roundup/Glyphosate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Toronto, February 12, 2019 – Safe Food Matters Inc. filed an application in federal court yesterday, challenging the re-registration of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide. In 2017 it filed a notice of objection (“NoO”) to the re-registration decision and asked that an independent review panel be established. Eight NoOs were filed in mid-2017, and all were rejected on January 11, 2019.
“We have no choice but to go to Court on this issue” said Mary Lou McDonald, President of Safe Food Matters (and also a challenger in her own right). “We point out to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (“PMRA”) exactly how this poison is concentrating in certain foods, and all they do is tweak the labels. The feds’ own data shows that label details aren’t followed or enforced. It is not right. They are completely ignoring the issue.”
In …Read More
To the PMRA – We Object!
On December 17, 2018, Safe Food Matters (along with Friends of the Earth Canada, Prevent Cancer Now and Right On Canada) objected to Health Canada’s re-registration of #glyphosate and called for immediate action by Canada’s pesticide regulator, #PMRA.
See our letter below.
Objecting to Glyphosate Desiccation
Glyphosate is being sprayed on crops to kill them for harvest, and the poison gets right into the still-growing seeds and beans: the food we eat. High and illegal levels in “healthy” foods like chickpeas result from this “desiccation” technique.
Health Canada just renewed the registration for glyphosate for another 15 years, and only tweaked the labels for spraying. It didn’t examine the effects of desiccation, and the tweaks won’t change desiccation exposure. Labels won’t work, aren’t followed, can’t be enforced, and Health Canada’s own law even admits it.
These points were made in a Notice of Objection (“NOO”) filed with Health Canada on June 27, 2017. The NOO was filed to object to Re-evaluation Decision RVD 2017-01 of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (“PMRA”) to grant continued registration of glyphosate.[i] A summary of the NOO is below.
Residues exceed legal limits (eg. chickpeas)
Desiccation is occurring on a large scale in North America. …Read More
Glyphosate in our Food II: Highest Levels in Legumes & Cereals because of Farming “Dry-Down”
For those concerned about pesticides in our foods, the link between harvesting practices and staggering high levels of glyphosate in common “healthy” cereals and legumes may come as a shock. Glyphosate, the active chemical in Roundup® and other pesticides, is considered to be “probably carcinogenic to humans”[i], a cause of non-hodgkins lymphoma, toxic to aquatic life,[ii] and a cause of milkweed decline.[iii]
High levels of glyphosate are present in many common foods, but so high in cereals and legumes that Canada’sf or importing countries’ legal limits are exceeded, as revealed by data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and other data[iv]. The CFIA data[v] revealed violations of maximum residue limits in chickpea and wheat bran samples. There were also violations for kidney bean, rye grain and products, bean flour, chickpea products and flour, and millet. Glyphosate was detected in 36.6% of grain products, 47.4% of bean/pea/lentil products, and 31.7% and …Read More
