HELP LEGAL CASE VS. HEALTH CANADA ON GLYPHOSATE
Hello!
I’m Mary Lou McDonald, president of Safe Food Matters, We are raising funds to pay the legal bills for our Court case against Health Canada.
Our case is about 2 things:
1. FIRST: Glyphosate: the ingredient in Round-up and other pesticides.
The chemical that:
- is sprayed on our food, our soil, our golf courses, our parks, our roadsides, our water, our forests;
- US Courts say causes cancer (non-Hodgkins lymphoma);
- IARC says probably causes cancer ;
- that was the subject of "ghostwritten' reports as evidence in the "Monsanto Papers ";
- that Health Canada says is safe when used according to label directions.
2. SECOND: Health Canada's flawed risk assessment process.
In 2017, Health Canada renewed glyphosate use in Canada until at least 2037, saying its scientists conducted a thorough risk assessment process. We disagree:
a) They did not look at how glyphosate gets right INTO our foods (it can'be washed off).
b) They didn't look at why it shows up at high levels in some foods (cereals, legumes).
c) They used outdated (1980s) and inaccurate (from the US) data on the exposure to Canadians to glyphosate through our food.
d) They said the directions on when to spray protect us, but for certain crops (like chickpeas/lentils), spraying at ANY time is not safe .
THE MONEY WILL GO ONLY TO PAY LEGAL BILLS. I am a lawyer and have spent hundreds and hundreds of 'free" research/legal hours on this case, but we have also hired Court lawyers. Our tireless lawyer Andrea Gonsalves of Stockwoods LLP has also "donated" many hours on this case, but base bills need to be paid.
Our strategy is LEGAL ACTIVISM. Petitions haven't worked, letters to MPs haven't worked, demonstrations haven't worked, writings haven't worked. Meanwhile more and more of us get sick and more and more poisoning of Mother Earth is allowed. We are the ONLY GROUP in Canada who has sued Health Canada on this issue.
But it is a long game. We just filed the arguments for our second case in Court. For the first appearance (the Federal Court ), generous individuals donated a lot of the necessary funds. The second appearance (the Federal Court of Appeal) is expected in 2021, and we think we have a good case.because of a recent Supreme Court of Canada precedent.
This case is IMPORTANT because this poison has been used on us and our environment for 45 YEARS without proper review. It is being dumped in North American in ever increasing quantities every year, and, predictably, is now FOUND IN EVERYTHING: in drinking water, in organic foods, in breastmilk, in our hair and urine. Many are convinced that the exponential rise in health problems in North America since the 1990s has largely been caused by glyphosate.
For this case, we are again asking for help from good people who CARE: who care about the food we eat, our environment, our forests, our water. People who think Health Canada needs to perform PROPER risk assessments.
Will you PLEASE JOIN US in our cause. Help us to FIGHT THIS INSANITY!
We are extremely grateful to you for any support you can provide. I know that MANY MANY people care about this cause, and when we join together we will have the resources to carry the cause through. Even a little bit from each one of YOU who care will make a difference.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
(Me signing Court papers in the case)
In solidarity,
Mary Lou McDonald,
President
Safe Food Matters Inc.
PS: Please check out our website SafeFoodMatters for more information, and this BACKGROUNDER to our case. The link to our GoFundMe page is also on the website.
