Science, not cabinet discretion, should decide pesticide safety

Independent decisions by Health Canada experts are meant to be the firewall between Canadians and unacceptably risky products. Bill C-30 weakens that firewall.

Under the law bringing Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s spring economic update into force, Health Canada experts could find a pesticide's environmental risks unacceptable and deny it, and cabinet could order it used anyway, writes Senator Rosa Galvez.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY ISG SENATOR ROSA GALVEZ

June 17, 2026

Canada's pesticide law rests on a simple principle: politicians should not overrule the scientists who judge whether a pesticide is safe. Bill C-30 would break it. Under the Spring Economic Upda...

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