Montrealers stage a 'die-in' at Health Canada offices to protest pesticides
Protesters are objecting to federal bills that would reauthorize banned pesticides and end the 15-year reevaluation requirement.
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More than 100 people, many in Halloween costume, staged a "die-in" on Saturday in front of Health Canada's offices at the Guy-Favreau complex in downtown Montreal. Under the slogan "pesticides kill," participants lay on the ground while people in white coveralls moved through the crowd pretending to spray them. Children were invited to trace the outlines of the protesters in chalk.
Organizers placed a cardboard coffin and tombstones in front of the building, each bearing the name of a disease, to create what they called a "cemetery." Thibault Rehn, executive director of Vigilance OGM, one of the groups behind the protest, said the action aimed to denounce "historic setbacks" the Carney government is implementing on pesticides.
Rehn pointed to Bill C-30, passed in June, which allows the reauthorization of pesticides Health Canada had banned. He also objected to Section 13 of Bill C-31, now under consideration, which would end the requirement to reevaluate registered pesticides every 15 years. "For us, this is like granting pesticides a lifetime authorization, and therefore, we oppose this bill," Rehn said.
Similar protests took place Saturday in Quebec City, Ottawa, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Terrebonne, Blainville and Val-David. Victims of Pesticides in Quebec, the Family Farmers' Network, the Union Paysanne, Les Greniers Agricoles, Mères au Front and Vigilance OGM helped organize the demonstrations.
What has Health Canada said in response to the protest and to the objections to Section 13 of Bill C-31?
Which pesticides does Bill C-30 reauthorize, and how many banned products are affected?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
