MEDIA RELEASE
September 3, 2014
I have historic news. Today, we start to fight back.
This morning the Ontario Beekeepers launched a lawsuit against Bayer and Syngenta - the manufacturers of bee killing neonicotinoid pesticides.
These companies have raked in billions selling these pesticides in full knowledge of how lethal they are to bees.
So far we have looked to government and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency to enforce the law, but once I sat down with the...
Sierra Club Canada Foundation is calling for a provincial ban on fracking based on the outcomes of a public review on fracking, released today. Click here to download the review
“This report makes it clear that fracking cannot proceed safely, and that the people of Nova Scotia are deeply concerned about its impacts on their health and communities, “ according to Gretchen Fitzgerald, Campaigns Director of the Atlantic Chapter.
“We are calling on the province of Nova Scotia to act immediately to draft a...
The national environmental group Sierra Club Canada today announced its support for pesticide-free buffer zones around key public areas on Prince Edward Island.
"This is a minimum standard for protection of public health," said Sierra Club PEI volunteer and national board member Tony Reddin. "The citizens' group Pesticide-Free PEI has asked the PEI government to create pesticide-free buffer zones of at least 25 meters around children's playgrounds, schools, preschools, bus stops, hospitals, and senior citizens' homes. We strongly support this request; and those regulations should be written to clearly apply to all pesticides, not just cosmetic urban applications."
Given the recent fish kill in the watershed for the future Charlottetown water...
OTTAWA--Despite the Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s (PMRA) decision to re-evaluate neonicotinoid pesticides, it is still registering new products containing the bee-killing pesticides.
“The Canadian government is attempting to deceive Canadians into believing it’s taking action on bee-killing pesticides when it is cleary not,” said John Bennett, National Program Director of the Sierra Club Canada Foundation (SCCF). “It’s a ruse. This government clearly isn’t taking the ecological threat seriously.
In June 2012, the PMRA announced its decision to initiate a re-evaluation of three bee-killing...
OTTAWA -- The findings of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) undertaken by the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides make it absolutely clear neonicotinoid pesticides must be banned by the Health Canada. The Study reviewed some 800 scientific papers and concluded that the impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides go far beyond honey bees: butterflies, birds and amphibians are all threatened.
“The experiment must end now!” said John Bennett, National Program Director, Sierra Club Canada Foundation. “There is overwhelming evidence to justify banning neonicotinoid pesticides,” he continued.
Health Canada’s Pest Management...
OTTAWA – Sierra Club Canada Foundation has asked the Ethics Commissioner to examine the ruling under the Conflict of Interest Act with regard to Ted Menzies’ work with CropLife Canada.
“A cabinet minister went directly to the board room of CropLife, the pesticide industry’s lobbying arm,” said John Bennett, National Program Director, Sierra Club Canada Foundation.
“We are advised that this could constitute a conflict of interest under the Act and should be investigated,” he continued.
CropLife is in the midst of a major lobbying and public relations campaign to prevent Canada from adopting a ban on bee...
Sierra Club Canada
Media Release, June 9, 2014
OTTAWA -- Sierra Club Canada is calling upon Tim Hudak's Ontario Progressive Conservative Party to clarify its position on climate change after Carleton-Mississippi Mills incumbent MPP Jack MacLaren denied climate change was “human-caused” or “man-made” at two local debates last week.
“Ontario is recognized for taking serious action on climate change by closing its coal-fired power plants," said Chris Ball, President of Sierra Club Canada. “Voters have a right to know if Mr. MacLaren’s climate change denying remarks are party policy.”
Mr. MacLaren made his remarks during two separate all-candidates’ meetings last week in...
Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, June 9, 2014 – Fishermen, environmentalists, First Nations, and others kicked off International Oceans’ Week with a demand to the federal, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick and Quebec governments to immediately place a moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration and development in the entire Gulf of St. Lawrence. They followed up with a call for an independent Gulf-wide review panel with thorough public consultations on whether offshore oil and gas activities should...
Sierra Club Canada Foundation welcomes any improvements in the industry’s handling of oil, but the announcement today won’t prevent more disasters, leaks or spills.
Canadians should note that as the amount of oil transported by truck, train and/or pipeline increases, the number of disasters, leaks and spills will too.
John Bennett, National Program Director
Sierra Club Canada Foundation
1510-1 Nicholas Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7B7
Tel: 613-291-6888
jb@sierraclub.ca
John on Twitter / ...
Pour la version française, cliquez ici.
The Sierra Club Canada Foundation and Save Our Seas and Shores are condemning the Newfoundland offshore board’s decision to allow the oil and gas industry to gain a toehold in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board released the results of a Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Western Newfoundland May 5th.
“This decision confirms that these offshore boards are not capable of being a truly arms-length independent regulator,” according to Gretchen Fitzgerald, Director of...
