Honourable George Webster,
Minister of Agriculture
Prince Edward Island
Dated: Friday, April 18, 2014
cc: Minister of health, honourable Mr. Doug W. Curie, PEI
cc: Lori Barker, Executive Director, Canadian Cancer Society, PEI division,
cc: Dr. Thierry Vrain, retired genetic engineer and spokesperson against GMO and pesticides in Agriculture.
Subject : Use of Glyphosate, 2,4-D and other pesticides/herbicides and fungicides in agriculture and cosmetic lawn use in Prince Edward Island and possible links with rise of various illness in the Province.
Dear Honorable Minister Mr. Webster
Good day.
I am an engineer by profession, a resident of British Columbia and a food security activist and citizen journalist on food security and food safety issues, and have a reasonably wide connection with scientists, agriculture policy analysts, NGOs, grassroots organizations, MLA and MPs from multiple continents including in Canada. I was born in India, lived for extended periods in Hong Kong, USA and now in Canada. I am a Canadian citizen.
I write this letter with some concern and questions with regard to health issues that might be of concern for residents of Prince Edward Island. There has been messages and articles and talks about rise of illnesses in Prince Edward Island which may be higher when compared to the rest of Canada. This is on top of awareness that diseases in Canada in general may also be rising rapidly in the past two decades or so. There is more reliable data and research done on the same issue across the border in the US, with Government released data, that shows an alarming rise in various chronic illness from Cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, to leaky guts, Chrone, obesity, diabetes and autism.
There is a rising awareness that some of it may be linked with a corresponding rise in the release of pesticides in the environment, as well as rise in the use of GMO (Genetically modified organisms) that entered into our food chain without any independent safety analysis by anybody within Canada or elsewhere.
Dr. Nancy Swanson had plotted a series of Graphs of rising of the chronic illnesses mentioned in my letter above, and release of Glyphosate, the active ingredient of Monsanto’s herbicide brand named Roundup. She obtained both sets of data (illness records and Glyphosate release) from the respective departments of the US Govt. It shows a striking and uncanny correlation in the rise of illness trend that seems to match to a ’T’ the rise of release of Glyphosate pesticide.
Such correlation graphs show there is a similarity in trend. it does not prove that the illness is directly attributed to the rise in pesticide level. However, such similarity does show a strong possibility that the two might be linked. Therefore, precautionary principle would demand that a serious and independent (meaning not influenced by either Government or pesticide industry) scientific tests be done, especially in labs using scientists that are not funded by the Biotech corporation in any way. Unfortunately, this has never been done by anybody.
So, back to the issue of possible rise in Cancer, obesity and various other illnesses in PEI, I tried to check on two items :
- If the Municipalities in PEI have, or have not, passed any bylaw banning the use of cosmetic lawn pesticides.
- If anybody tried to get people’s blood, or urine or mothers breast milk, tested for presence of Glyphosate.
I found out that the answer to both are in negative. I would like to get a confirmation of this from your good office.
Further, I am told that the Government of PEI has apparently a special kind of act, or law, in force that limits the ability of the elected Municipal Governments and does not allow them to even pass bylaws banning cosmetic lawn pesticides. This is a routine bylaw passed by many municipalities across Canada. I am not aware of any special law enacted by the Government of PEI that denies this right to its own Municipalities.
I would request you to advise me if this is true, and what the text of that law or act is, and how it may be overturned to allow the PEI municipalities the same rights as the rest of Canada in fulfilling the wish of its people and pushing back at use of poisons for cosmetic purpose.
About the other item, we are a large group of organizations and concerned people in Canada that are looking towards getting the ground water, as well as human urine tested for presence of Glyphosate by a reputed lab. We are in contact with scientists across the border in USA that have helped labs in the US do such tests for people in the US. We are also looking for labs in Canada that might do similar tests without having to send the samples far away.
Based on the results, especially in Prince Edward Island, and especially from people that might be living closer to the agricultural lands and or otherwise exposed to the pesticides, as well as those who are already sick including the children – we are trying to get scientists to agree to analyze the data and come up with their comments and suggestions if there is a cause for concern and if so, what might be the likely environmental factors that are leading to this malady.
I seek your assistance, as well as that of the ministry of health and the local office of Canadian cancer society, in this endeavour. The public will likely take initiative on their own. But it would be better, and look better, if the branches of Government that should be concerned about safety of its people are also on board in this effort.
Incidentally, Dr. Thierry Vrain, retired genetic engineer and myself will be in Prince Edward Island to speak at a gathering to alert the people about potential risks in cultivating and consuming either GMO or food grown with methods that employ heavy use of pesticides. It would be an honour if you all will also attend so we could meet and shake hands.
As a last request, may I ask for data on year upon year release of various pesticides in PEI as well as total reports of diseases such as Cancer, Autism, Obesity, Parkinson’s, leaky guts, Diabetes etc from say the beginning of the 1990s till date, specifically for Prince Edward Island ?
Thanking you and hoping for a response