Carney Government Unbans Banned Pesticides, Promises They Are Banned in Spirit
Ottawa moved this week to pass legislation allowing Health Canada to authorize the use of pesticides that are, by every other measure, banned. Officials describe the change as a modest tweak to give regulators flexibility, which is the word governments use when they want to do a thing without anyone asking what the thing is.
The law preserves the list of prohibited substances in full. It simply allows the minister to wave at the list and keep walking. A spokesperson explained that the banned pesticides will still technically be banned, in the same way a speed limit is still technically a speed limit at two in the morning on the 401.
Farm groups welcomed the flexibility. Environmental groups noted that the entire point of banning a pesticide is the banning part, and that an unbannable ban is functionally a strongly worded suggestion. The Carney government, which campaigned on competence and seriousness, has responded by being competent and serious about authorizing things that are not supposed to be authorized.
In related news, the same week brought data showing that nearly every serious adverse reaction in Canadian plasma donors over the past decade happened at for-profit clinics. The federal response to that finding is still pending, although early signals suggest the government may consider a flexible framework allowing the harms to continue, provided they are properly documented in a quarterly report no one will read.