Pesky pesticides

Normally I don't admire Quebec, but those Quebeckers can have a feisty attitude when they want. And I think we all should in this kind of case: The Canadian unit of Dow AgroSciences is suing the Province of Quebec for banning one of its products in a sweeping move of pulling more than 200 pesticides and herbicides from shelves. The specific product in question is
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, and the name is enough to have it banned in my opinion.
But get this - They are suing that government under Chapter 11 of the NAFTA Free Trade Agreement that includes a provision that allows private companies to sue the federal governments of any of the three countries if a member country enacts laws that "expropriate" their profits.
Yes, if children start being born with three eyes and five legs, we are supposed to respect company's profits first!
Oh my Gawd where have we gotten to? We've seen Wall Street greed spashed across everything we read lately and now we are seeing the ultimate: - profits before public safety. This company, Dow Chemical, is now in the realm (if it wasn't already) of the cigarette companies insisting that smoking is still good for you and fish farms saying sea lice are not hurting our wild salmon.

I hope those feisty French-Canadians are up to the battle and I think they are. They are the only ones in Canada prepared and brave enough to go after the biker gangs in their province, we have to give them an applause for this too. And encourage other provinces to follow their lead.
Hourra car vous, Quebec!


I know this has nothing to do with the Union Carbide spill in Bhopal, India, but if you want to see a quick bit about the damage chemicals can do go here - http://www.bhopal.org/whathappened.html