ABSTRACT

The Canadian federal government completed a review in 1991 of the pesticide registration process, which is the procedure by which pesticides are licensed and re-licensed for use in Canada. The Canadian Labour Congress's (CLC) position throughout the review was that there should be a phasing out by 1998 of chemical pesticides for which there is significant evidence of chronic human health or persistent harmful effects on the environment. More generally, the CLC claimed that without such legislated criteria, a pesticide control program cannot be effective. "Targets for reduction" permit too much flexibility, too many loopholes. For those who see information as a tool by which people can influence public policy, the new rights proposed in the Pesticide Registration Review are unlikely to be of much practical use. The effects of pesticides on the environment would not be so bad if wildlife were destroyed on immediate contact with pesticides. But pesticides also persist, doing long-term damage to ecosystems and water supplies.