But public the real loser in pesticide ban rejection.
by Bill Tieleman
The Canadian Cancer Society is very disappointed… I think it does have the potential to put the health of British Columbians at risk.
– Nancy Falconer, Canadian Cancer Society
Big business and lobbyists have publicly defeated the plans of two successive BC Liberal premiers, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the BC Lung Association to ban cosmetic pesticides.
Last week, a special legislative committee led by renegade BC Liberal MLA Bill Bennett handed Premier Christy Clark a stunning rebuke — rejecting her goal of banning pesticides believed to cause cancer.
Bennett's majority on the committee rejected the pro-ban submissions of roughly 80 percent of over 8,600 individuals and organizations — a record number — that participated.
Now Clark faces a lose-lose proposition.
She can either kowtow to the pesticide industry in a humiliating surrender that will cost votes among urban environmentalists, or override her own MLAs and embarrass them while also aggravating some rural voters.
BC New Democrat MLAs on the committee support the ban, ironically having accepted Clark's invitation to work together, while her own MLAs went rogue.
Clark just can't win, but she should have known better.
That's because ex-premier Gordon Campbell promised similar action in 2009, but then backed down after a powerful campaign by pesticide makers killed the ban dead.
Clark's own promise was even more threatening.
"I want to see a ban on cosmetic pesticides on lawns, parks and playgrounds. These dangerous pesticides are proven to increase the likelihood of childhood cancer and other illnesses, and have no place near our homes," Clark said in her leadership run.
Her ban proposal sparked strong efforts from the multinational pesticide manufacturers who hired lobbyists to defeat it.
But her ban proposal sparked strong efforts from the multinational pesticide manufacturers such as Round-Up by Monsanto, Killex, produced by Scotts Canada, and other agri-businesses represented by umbrella group CropLife Canada. The latter hired prominent lobbyist Bruce Young of Earnscliffe Strategy Group to persuade MLAs against the ban.
The right-wing Fraser Institute think-tank also opposes banning pesticides and Gwyn Morgan — Clark's transition team advisor — has attacked pesticide bans, amazingly proclaiming the Canadian Cancer Society was supporting "junk science."
So Clark's right-wing pals like Bennett, Morgan and the Fraser Institute seem more like pests now as she faces a no-win decision on cosmetic pesticides that can only alienate one group of voters or another when she needs far more support, not less.
About Bill Tieleman
Bill Tieleman, president of West Star Communications, is one of BC's best known political commentators and communicators. Read political commentary from Bill every Tuesday in 24 hours, Vancouver's free weekday newspaper (also online) and in The Tyee — BC's award-winning online magazine.
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