More than 100 people, many of whom were in costume for Halloween, sought to highlight the message that “pesticides kill” by staging a “die-in” on Saturday in front of Health Canada’s offices in Montreal.
The participants lay down on the ground in front of the Guy-Favreau complex in downtown Montreal, while people dressed in white coveralls moved through the crowd, pretending to spray pesticides on the protesters.
Children taking part in the event were invited to trace the outlines of the people on the ground with chalk to leave a record of the action. Organizers had placed a cardboard coffin and tombstones in front of the building, each bearing the names of various diseases, to create a “cemetery.”
Thibault Rehn, executive director of Vigilance OGM, one of the organizations that organized the protest, stated that the action aimed to “denounce the historic setbacks the Carney government is implementing regarding pesticides.”
The organizers deplore the passage of Bill C-30 last June, which allows for the reauthorization of pesticides that had been banned by Health Canada. They are also concerned about Section 13 of the sweeping Bill C-31, currently under consideration, which would amend certain provisions of the budget. Section 13 would amend the Pest Control Products Act to end the requirement to reevaluate registered pesticides every 15 years.
“For us, this is like granting pesticides a lifetime authorization, and therefore, we oppose this bill,” argued Rehn.
Protests against pesticides took place simultaneously on Saturday in Quebec City, Ottawa, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Terrebonne, Blainville, and Val-David.
Victims of Pesticides in Quebec, the Family Farmers’ Network, the Union Paysanne, Les Greniers Agricoles, and Mères au Front, along with Vigilance OGM, helped organize these demonstrations.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
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