Steinbach-area ag consultant becomes new leader of Manitoba Green Party.

      CBC News

• Janine Gibson takes over from lawyer James Beddome, who led the party for fifteen years. Story here.

"Bill 24 Stinks!" Manitoba Green Party Leader - James Beddome.

Winnipeg Free Press

WINNIPEG - Green Party leader James Beddome wasn't the least bit subtle Wednesday about what he thinks of the Pallister government's red tape reduction bill.

"This bill stinks!" 


Beddome declared to a rally on the steps of the Manitoba legislature.

"It's part of a Conservative agenda that tells us all regulation is bad," Beddome said. "Government efficiency means don't do our homework; if there's no data, there's no problem." Environmental activists led by the Wilderness Committee and Hog Watch Manitoba protested Bill 24, an omnibus bill going to public hearings sometime later this month, warning that within its reductions to regulations were changes that would allow the expansion of industrial hog barns that would further jeopardize the health of Lake Winnipeg.

Speakers could not agree on how many sets of regulations are threatened by red tape reduction - 12, 14, and 15 were all cited

- but did agree that lifting the former NDP government's moratorium on hog barn expansion will produce more toxins that will eventually wash into Lake Winnipeg.

"We're not opposed to raising pigs in Manitoba," said Hog Watch head Vicki Burns, but it must be done humanely and without harming the environment.

"We haven't seen the improvements in Lake Winnipeg we need to see," said Eric Reder, campaign coordinator for Wilderness Manitoba.

NDP environment critic Rob Altemeyer accused Premier Brian Pallister of copying Stephen Harper's playbook, by packing so many issues into an omnibus bill in hopes some would slip by unnoticed.

Greens Launch Manitoba Election Campaign With Plan to Reduce Poverty by Half

Green Party of Manitoba

Winnipeg, March 16, 2016: Today, leader James Beddome launched the Green election campaign with the announcement of a costed, Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI) plan. More here.

Beddome is Back!

The Former Leader of the Green Party of Manitoba, James Beddome, is Elected Again at Successful AGM, and Policies Passed to Protect Manitobans from the Energy East Pipeline

November 15, 2014 (Winnipeg, MB)

Beddome at a protest against water privatization by the City of Winnipeg a few years ago. 

Larry Powell PinP photo.

The Green Party of Manitoba (GPM) elected a new Executive Council at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, including the election of former Party Leader James Beddome back to his former position after stepping down a year prior.

Beddome received approximately 68 percent of the votes cast by individual GPM members, with challenger, organic farmer Kate Storey receiving 32 percent.

“I am excited to once again serve as Green Party of Manitoba Leader. Frankly, I missed politics too much, and I look forward to leading the Party into the next election when we will elect Green MLAs to the Manitoba Legislature. I want to congratulate Kate Storey on a well run campaign. I look forward to continuing to work with her on Executive Council and as a candidate in the next provincial election,” said Beddome.

In addition to the election of a new Executive Council, organizational and policy amendments were dealt with.

Notably, the GPM passed a policy affirming opposition to the Energy East Pipeline, and requiring that in the event the pipeline is approved that the GPM would protect Manitobans by requiring companies to pay into a provincially administered contingency covering the potential liabilities from spills. Converting decades old natural gas pipelines, to carry diluted bitumen parallel to existing operational natural gas pipelines, as is proposed, presents a huge risk in the event of spill or explosion, and further contributes to climate change.

“Greens understand that a responsible economy does not promote short term gain at the expense of severe and debilitating long-term pain. We need action on climate change immediately! The current Manitoba Government has no credibility in dealing with climate change. This decades old government promised to reduce emissions 6 percent below 1990 levels. They even passed a law promising to do it, but we all know what they do with promises they enshrine into law,” stated Beddome.

-30-

Read related posts here.

Green Party of Manitoba Searches for a New Leader

by Larry Powell - GPM member

James Beddome, leader of the Green Party of Manitoba for the past five years, (above, centre) has resigned. Beddome told the Party's recent Annual General Meeting in Winnipeg, he was leaving with regret, but that it would be unfair to carry on due to the increasing duties required by his law career. As he put it, "The interests of my (law) clients must come first." 

He did make it clear, however, it was not his intention to break his ties with the party. On the contrary, he added, it was "quite likely" he would continue to serve one way or another, even as a candidate. 

I met this dedicated young man with a ready sense of humour, at a public event in Brandon a few years ago. It was both educational and fun as we tried to convince a sometimes reluctant media to carry our message that the provincial government needed to ban harmful pesticides used on lawns just to make them look good.  

Now, a scant few years later, the NDP provincial government is on the verge of doing just that. 

During his time as leader, Beddome got used to seeing the government adopt Green policies in this way while claiming them as their own.

For example, in 2012, he spoke out strongly against the idiocy of the provincial government licensing the operation of peat-mines in provincial parks. The following year, the province banned the practise.

In a statement, the Party President, Pam Sanford said, "James has left some big shoes to fill. We accept his resignation with regret and wish him well as he completes his law degree."

The party executive is expected to choose an interim leader "in the near future" and set a date for a leadership contest.

l.p.
Green Party of Manitoba

Manitoba Greens Celebrate Climate Scientist's Victory in British Columbia

Green Party of Manitoba

WINNIPEG – Manitoba Green Party leader James Beddome (l.) congratulates new Green MLA Andrew Weaver (below) on his historic win in B.C.’s election yesterday. “Andrew will be a wonderful first Green representative, bringing his strong voice to work for the environment and our planet’s future.”

Andrew Weaver is the first Green ever elected to a provincial legislature in Canada. He defeated the Liberal incumbent in the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head. Other B.C. Greens came close to winning seats, with Adam Olsen only 387 votes behind the NDP victor and Jane Sterk placing a strong second to the Liberals in the riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill. The Greens are B.C.’s third political party in terms of popular vote.

“Greens are rising in popularity across Canada,” says Beddome. “Our sound and sensible policies are resonating with voters as everyone learns to think ‘green’. The Green Party of Manitoba looks forward to electing MLAs in Manitoba’s next election.”

-30-

Contact:
James Beddome,
leader of the Green Party of Manitoba
call or text at 204-990-5195

The Green Party of Manitoba Calls for a Moratorium on Mining in Provincial Parks

GRANDVIEW:  The Green Party of Manitoba condemns the NDP government for allowing the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting company to start construction of a mine in Grass River Provincial Park without approval or public consultation. “If allowed to proceed, the Reed Lake Mine will destroy the woodland Caribou herd which the Park was intended to protect,” says Kate Storey, Green Party councillor and former researcher of the Reed Lake woodland caribou herd.

Kate uses radio telemetry to track movements 

of woodland caribou at  Reed Lake

Grass River Provincial Park is a small park surrounding Reed Lake. This park is a rare area of ideal woodland caribou habitat. Woodland caribou depend on the islands of Reed Lake for protection of their young calves from wolves. Every spring the caribou mothers leave their wintering grounds in old growth forest and swim out to the many islands on Reed Lake where their calves are born in safety.

Kate examines a caribou calf. 

Head Stuck in the Tar Sands

Agrarian Magazine

Shutting down Canada’s prized Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) is the latest atrocity in Harper Government’s war on evironmental science - by James Beddome
Please help us persuade the Government of Canada to reverse the decision to close Canada’s Experimental Lakes Area by signing the
 Public Petition to Save ELA!


ELA photo by CBC News

Non-Democratic Party Undermining Democracy

Changing Election Law Requires All-party Consultation
06/13/12
For Immediate Release:

The Manitoba Government, at its own initiative and without consulting with the other political parties in Manitoba, is moving to completely rewrite election law in Manitoba.

Typically amendments to the elections law are suggested by Elections Manitoba, the independent agency charged with overseeing elections, and then discussed at an all-party committee meeting before changes are made.

Clearly the principles of democracy once held dear by the NDP have now been abandoned. The proposals before the legislature seek only to cement efforts to create a two party system in Manitoba.

“The New Democratic Party of Manitoba should rename itself the Non-Democratic Party of Manitoba,” said Green Party of Manitoba Leader James Beddome. “We are outraged that this stealth attack on a fundamental issue of fairness is brought about by the same stealth tactics the Federal Conservatives are using in Ottawa,”

Although on first glance,  it appears that the intent of this bill is to avoid overlapping federal and provincial elections, Schedule A completely replaces the Elections Financing Act.  The stated purpose of replacing the Elections Financing Act is to draft the law in more plain language.

The new act puts the issue of annual funding for political parties before an "independent allowance commissioner."  The Green Party expresses some skepticism as to the neutrality of an “allowance commissioner” who will be appointed by Cabinet.

Beddome said, “Putting a person that is likely to be a friend of the Government in charge of the distribution of the funds to political parties is like putting a mouse in charge of the cheese factory!”

“There is no need to hurry this legislation through.  The next scheduled federal and provincial elections are not until 2015.  And if we want plain language legislation, then time should be given so that the changes can be discussed with all parties affected, including the public.  This is completely unacceptable and undermines the democratic process. We will oppose this every step of the way,” said Beddome

- 30 -
More Details here.

Manitoba's Green Party Leader Takes Newspaper to Task for Misleading Editorial

From the Blog of James Beddome, Leader, Green Party of Manitoba.

GOOD NEWS! The Manitoba Government is finally going to follow the lead of the other 6 provinces in Canada which have put in place bans on the aesthetic or non-essential use of pesticides. This is a first step that Greens have been calling for, for years.     Full story here

Greens Join Forces With Liberals and Environmental Groups Against NDP’s Plan For Mining In Provincial Parks

"The idea of a peat mine inside a provincial park is simply sickening,” says Beddome
(January 10, 2012)
WINNIPEG – Green Party Leader James Beddome, joined by Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, Manitoba Wildlands Director Gaile Whelan Enns, and Wilderness Committee Campaign Director Eric Reder spoke out against the NDP allowance of peat mining in provincial parks today at the Manitoba Legislature.  The Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park, adjacent to Lake Winnipeg, may be home to a 531-hectare peat mine if an Environment Act license is granted. 
“Regulations are urgently needed to allow continued, and environmentally sustainable, harvesting of peat for gardens and related purposes,” says Gerrard.  “While there is a place for peat harvesting in Manitoba, there is no place for mining in provincial parks.”
Beddome added that a provincial compost strategy is also needed, because compost can be used as a replacement for peat in gardens.
“Using compost and other alternatives, rather than peat whenever possible, would reduce the need for peat mining, thereby reducing the associated damage and emissions caused by peat mining, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions from landfills,” said Beddome. 
The NDP have had 12 years to develop a peat land management strategy and regulations.  Instead, they have issued a temporary moratorium on peat mining in Manitoba.  Even with the moratorium, a loophole is allowing the NDP to permit new peat mines -- including in provincial parks.  Environmental groups see this as a tactic to get around the moratorium legislated in 2011 and for the NDP to collect revenue through new peat leases and mines, including in parks. 
“The NDP moratorium is in fact not a moratorium, as there are more than 200 pending and granted peat leases in Manitoba right now,” adds Gaile Whelan Enns, with Manitoba Wildlands.  “Rather, it is part of a twisted pattern of the NDP saying they have a moratorium and doing the opposite. This is no way to manage our province.” 
“Peat is a vital tool to preserve the health of our waterways and the temperature of our planet,” says James Beddome.  “Provincial parks are intended to preserve natural landscapes, not to serve as places of industrial development. The idea of a peat mine inside a provincial park is simply sickening.”
-30-
For more information, please contact:
Caitlin McIntyre,
Green Party of Manitoba Press Secretary
204-990-4064
Please also read: "Peat Mines Comment Period Extended."

Winnnipeg Free Press Gives Green Party Leader Top Marks in Political Leaders' Debate

Free Press Online - Sept 24 - '11 (Emphasis by PLT)

James Beddome  - What he needed to do:

When you’re largely an unknown, it’s good to make a good first impression. Most Winnipeggers are probably wondering what the Green Party of Manitoba stands for other than an obvious desire to protect the environment.

James Beddome, Leader, Green 
Party of Manitoba photo by PLT

What he accomplished:

Beddome played the perfect foil to the other three leaders and was the best performer of the night. He also got more one-liners in than the others — some were stinging.
Plus, getting equal time with the three other party leaders on provincewide television was in itself a victory.

Best sound bite:

"The reason why our (hydro) rates are being driven up is because of new developments. I’ll point out to Mr. McFadyen it’s not just Bipole III," Beddome said to Selinger. "Gary Filmon was smart enough to say no to Conawapa because he knew it would drive up our energy rates. Are you?"

Post-debate spin:

For anyone doubting the Greens, Beddome made it loud and clear they are a force to be recognized.
"I think we could change the tone of the legislature," Beddome said. "I really do. I’m hoping we can get in there. It’s going to be a push, but we’re not going anywhere one way or the other."
Read the newspaper's analysis of ALL the leaders' performances here.

Manitobans Urged to Vote "Green"

Winnipeg Free Press - 09/7/2011

The Green Party of Manitoba wants you to hear what they have to say. Details here.

James Beddome, Leader, Green
Party of Manitoba (PLT photo)

The Green Party Leader in Manitoba Debates the Merits of "Bipole 111"

PLT: Please overlook the technical glitches of this video and listen to what James says. He makes a lot of sense! (Bipole 111 is a planned, major transmission line which would carry hydro power from northern Manitoba, mostly for export into the States.) The old-line parties are debating WHERE it should run. Mr. Beddome asks, does it need to run anywhere?

Manitoba Logging Road May Spark Court Battle

Winnipeg Free Press - By: Bruce Owen - 20/08/2009
Environmentalists oppose park route. (Click headline.)
Also read "Environmentalists pan new road...."
and how James Beddome, leader of the Green Party of Manitoba feels about the decision.

Ghost Pines 11
by Mary Jane Eichler

Suburban Sprawl at Heart of Water Debate

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009 - by James Beddome, Leader, Green Party of Manitoba.

Winnipeg, and the surrounding communities, are presently beholden to the same old game of staged ideological political chicken between the city and the province, and unfortunately our water supply (imagine a barrel of water) is set to collide in between.

James speaks at a pro-water rally

on the steps of city hall on the eve
of the disastrous council vote.
More pics, below.

Factory Farms & the Flu. Who Says They're Not Related!

By Larry Powell

Sadly, politicians are again placing the interests of a failing industry ahead of science, the public interest and possibly even human health.


Manitoba and Ottawa are doling out another 37 million dollars -good money after bad - to factory hog producers in this province.


Both the Manitoba government and the "Feds" have swallowed, hook, line and sinker the siren song of the industry; that it is being unjustly connected to the current outbreak of swine flu and is suffering financial hardship as a result.


In announcing this latest welfare payment, the Minister of Agriculture, Rosann Wowchuk, cites what she calls "the false connection to H1N1 flu" as one of the factors hurting the industry today.

This rush to judgement and readiness to be a cheerleader rather than an even-handed lawmaker, does a disservice to Manitobans.

In contrast, the Green Party of Manitoba has taken a position based on reality and science, as opposed to political expediency.

In light of the current outbreak of H1N1 influenza, or Swine 'Flu, the Party is therefore calling for an immediate halt to the development of any new confined animal feeding operations, or "CAFOs," in the province.

Large numbers of hogs and chickens are fed in these facilities, also referred to as "factory farms." Many such operations were approved under the watch of our present government, especially in the southeast and central areas.

While it has placed a freeze on any new developments in these regions, vast areas of the province are still eligible for new ones. It is part of a larger style of industrialized agriculture which has for years, drawn growing concern from around the world.
Not only does it hold implications for the environment, communities, human health and animal welfare, it is highly dependent on exports, which are simply unsustainable over the long term.

As the party leader, James Beddome has stated, "The preponderance of scientific evidence implicating such operations in the spread of serious infectious diseases, is just too convincing to allow them to multiply.
"Operations housing both hogs and chickens in close proximity, already up and running in parts of Manitoba, (notably the RM of Hanover) pose an especially dangerous combination. These must be phased out as soon as possible."

Several huge hog and chicken CAFOs also operate near the small Mexican town where the Swine 'Flu outbreak apparently began. Some local people there believe a virus from those barns infected the little boy who became the first known victim.

The Government of Manitoba either does not know or care about the growing body of medical research and scientific evidence on this issue.

For example,


• The World Health Organization, the Canadian and American Public Health Associations, and the Canadian and American Medical Associations have, for years, all raised alarms about the public health risks of CAFOs.


• In 2006, research teams from the universities of Iowa and Wisconsin, with help from the Centers for Disease Control, warned that hogs play an important role in the transmission of the flu virus back and forth from animals to humans.
Their study found that farmers, veterinarians and meat processors exposed to hogs in their jobs, ran a greatly increased risk of coming down with H1N1, the flu strain involved in the current outbreak.


• In 2007, another research team with the (U.S.) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (a branch of the Surgeon-General's office) concluded, "Because CAFOs tend to concentrate large numbers of animals close together, they facilitate rapid transmission and mixing of viruses. There is a concern that increasing the numbers of swine facilities adjacent to avian facilities could further promote the evolution of the next pandemic."


The current outbreak is still cropping up disturbingly in unexpected places in Manitoba and elsewhere. So steps such as these are essential as a precaution against a full-blown pandemic which some medical authorities say is not only possible, but probable in the future.

But more steps should also be taken. These could include improved bio-security measures at CAFOs and the monitoring of people involved in their operation.

The government cannot be unmindful of any economic hardships these policy changes might have on the industry. Any adverse effects it encounters as a direct result of these policy changes ought to be compensated, appropriately.

But, to what degree can this situation continue and for how long?

It is now clear that our dominant system of animal agriculture, the CAFO, or factory farm, has failed on so many levels and needs to change.

So the government should stop propping up these factory farms and instead, begin to provide far more assistance to small, sustainable, straw-based, organic, family livestock farms.

 

Larry Powell

Green Party of Manitoba
Roblin

Green Party of Manitoba Believes Now is the Time to Bring "CAFOs" to an End.

News Release - June 13 - '09
--------------------------------
In light of the current outbreak of H1N1 influenza, or Swine 'Flu, the Green Party of Manitoba is calling for an immediate halt to the development of any new confined animal feeding operations, or "CAFOs," in the province. Large numbers of hogs and chickens are fed in these facilities, also referred to as "factory farms." The Government of Manitoba has allowed the development of many such operations, especially in the southeast and central areas.
While it has placed a freeze on any new developments in these regions, vast areas of the province are still eligible for new ones. It is a style of industrialized agriculture which has for years, drawn growing concern from around the world.
The Green Party leader, James Beddome says, "The preponderance of scientific evidence implicating such operations in the spread of serious infectious diseases, is just too convincing to allow them to multiply."
Not only that, Beddome adds, "Operations housing both hogs and chickens in close proximity, already up and running in parts of Manitoba, (notably the RM of Hanover) pose a potentially dangerous combination. These must be phased out as soon as possible."
The Green Party's spokesperson on food security, Larry Powell, notes that several huge hog and chicken "CAFOs" also operate near the small Mexican town where the Swine 'Flu outbreak apparently began. Some local people there believe a virus from those barns infected the little boy who became the first known victim.
Powell says "Premier Doer seems not to be aware of the body of medical research and scientific evidence pertaining to this issue." For example;

• The World Health Organization, Canadian Public Health Association, American Public Health Association, Canadian Medical Association, and American Medical Association have, for years, all raised alarms about the public health risks of "CAFOs."

• In 2006, research teams from the Universities of Iowa and Wisconsin, with help from the Centres for Disease Control, warned that pigs play an important role in the transmission of the 'flu virus back and forth from animals to humans. Their study found that farmers, veterinarians and meat processors exposed to hogs in their jobs, ran a greatly increased risk of coming down with H1N1, the flu strain involved in the current outbreak.

• In 2007, another research team with the (U.S.) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences concluded, "Because 'CAFOs' tend to concentrate large numbers of animals close together, they facilitate rapid transmission and mixing of viruses. There is a concern that increasing the numbers of swine facilities adjacent to avian facilities could further promote the evolution of the next pandemic."

Beddome says, "Since the current outbreak is still cropping up disturbingly in unexpected places in Manitoba, steps such as the ones I'm suggesting, are essential as a precaution against a full-blown pandemic which some medical authorities say is not only possible, but probable in the future.
But more steps should also be taken. These could include improved bio-security measures at "CAFOs" and stepped up-medical monitoring of people involved in their operation.
"The government must also be mindful of any economic hardships these policy changes might have on the industry. So it should consider appropriate financial aid to any operators adversely affected by them."
Beddome concludes, "Manitoba should also provide assistance and encouragement to smaller, straw-based, organic, family livestock farms in this province as well as the establishment of new ones."
=======
Please also read "H1N1 - The First Legal Action Targets a Pig Farm."
=======
COMMENT;
Hello Larry;

Great release; one can only echo the valid info and realize that in many cases (if not all)that Pandemics and outbreaks stem from concentrated operations. No doubt that these present operations have to be curbed. The Moratorium and Bill 17 did nothing to prevent the previous existing operations from polluting. Business as usual. Our Governments of the day far and wide don't operate even with a minimum of any Conscience !

Regards,

Joe Leschyshn

News Release – Green Party of Manitoba

Apr. 19th, 2009 - Brandon, MB.

Read related story here.

The leader of the Green Party of Manitoba, James Beddome, is challenging Premier Doer to make Manitoba the first western province to ban lawn and garden chemicals.

Just weeks ago, Ontario became just the second jurisdiction in the country to do away with the so-called “cosmetic” use of pesticides, long considered a health hazard, especially to children.

Beddome says such a ban would do a lot to enhance the image Mr. Doer has been promoting of himself as a “green” leader.

He further challenges the Premier to call on Ottawa for an immediate halt to the introduction of any further genetically-engineered crops in this country.

Beddome says, contrary to industry hype, GMO crops require more, not less, pesticides to ensure their success.

Meanwhile, there is mounting and credible evidence that these pesticides are harmful, both to human health and the natural environment.

CONTACT: James Beddome - (204) 990-5195
Or Larry Powell - (204) 937-3055
======
Ontario has just passed a new law which comes into effect on Earth Day, this Wednesday as a matter of fact, to ban the use of cosmetic pesticides in that province.

Just click here and search for Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act, 2008

Also read related article here...

=====
Roundup is probably the most familiar and widely-used weed-killer in the world today.
It's used mainly on crops such as canola, which have been genetically modified to resist the chemical.

So the weeds in the treated fields are killed, while the crops survive.

(Ironically, canola has itself become a "weed" in crops sown in subsequent years.

Being Roundup-resistant, ever-more potent chemicals have been produced to kill it!

Where will this all end?

Roundup is also the herbicide of choice for a lot of urban homeowners, who use it trustingly on their lawns and gardens to get rid of such things as dandelions.
.
Thanks in large measure to expensive, pervasive advertising campaigns by its makers, Monsanto Corporation, it has a reputation for being effective and safe.


Empty containers dumped beside a field.

(Above)

But it is now becoming clear that Roundup is not the benign, harmless product it has been made out to be.



A container collection site in rural MB.
Photos by L.P
A research team at the University of Caen, in France, has found that Roundup kills human tissue within 24 hours of exposure, at just fractions of the concentrations used in agriculture!
Team leader, Prof. Gilles-Eric Seralini (l.)
President of the Scientific Council of CRIIGEN
University of Caen - Laboratory of Biochimistry
Please also help Prof. Seralini fend off an attack from the buitech industry by clicking here.
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/defendiSeralini.php
Surprisingly, Roundup has been found to be far more toxic as a mixture that its active ingredient, glyphosate, alone.

This means that the products mixed with glyphosate to make Roundup are also, by themselves, very toxic.

They too have been touted for years as being "inert" or inactive, implying that they too, are harmless!

Yet Roundup continues to be used in "oceanic" amounts! Why?
============
As well, a study at the University of Pittsburgh has found that Roundup is highly toxic to amphibians, including frogs!
Biology Professor Rick Relyea (r.) found Roundup to be acutely toxic to amphibians.

Could this be a factor in the alarming decline of amphibian populations around the world?

If you accept that creatures such as this are barometers, not only of our natural environment, but of a healthy human population, then we suggest there is reason
for concern here.

The extinct

Golden Toad, (above).

Red-eyed tree frog (above).
Art by Rosa (Eunche) Lee, a
winner in the '09 Robert Bateman
"Get to Know" Contest.
Yet Roundup continues to be used in "oceanic" amounts! Why?

Despite all of this, Monsanto and other big corporations continues to invent more and more GMO crops that are, in Monsanto's jargon, "Roundup Ready." These include alf alfa and sugar beets.

Amid a groundswell of concern, Monsanto dropped a bid to develop GMO wheat in Canada a few years ago. But, make no mistake. That idea is still very much alive.

Tragically, governments continue to set science aside and approve ever more of what some critics call "frankencrops!"

That’s why we, the Green Party of Manitoba, believe it’s of utmost importance that an immediate hold be placed on the approval of any new GMO crops in Canada until their full impact on health and environment can be investigated.
=======

Late in 2005, (almost four years ago) a Canadian scientist, Myriam Fernandez with Ag Canada’s research Centre in Swift Current, found that wheat crops grown a year after glyphosate had been applied to the field, had higher levels of a fungal disease known as fusarium head blight, than fields where no glyphosate had been applied.

The blight affects mostly wheat, but can also attack barley, corn and oats. It affects both yield and quality of crops and can produce toxic seed.

Fusarium is a serious and pervasive condition that has deprived producers of millions of dollars of revenue over the years.

Fernandez also found, under similar conditions, Roundup seemed to promote another phenomenon called sudden death syndrome in soy beans.

Yet Roundup continues to be used in "oceanic" amounts! Why?

Her finding followed 4 years of study.

Click here, then search for Myriam Fernandez.

(NOTE-her complete study no longer seems to be posted on this site.)
======
For years now, honeybees have been disappearing in alarming numbers in Canada and around the world.

While many factors are believed to be causing this, it is known for sure that certain pesticides, for one, are lethal to the bees.

Click here for the complete, joint, 6 year-old study by the EPA and PMRA…

While Germany, France, Italy and Slovenia have already banned these chemicals, including an especially nasty one called “clothianidin.” (made by Bayer CropScience) North American regulators not only continue to allow this poison to be used, they are approving new ones which are just as potent, if not more so!

So they sit and fiddle, apparently oblivious of the fact that one out of every three spoons-full of food we put in our mouths is there thanks to honeybees, the world’s most efficient pollinators!

Authorities seem to feel that every last cause of bee disappearances has to be identified and proven rather than acting on the ones we already know about!
They even have a convenient term for it. “Colony Collapse Disorder.” It’s characterized as a mystery apparently so deep, let’s not even try to solve it!

Yet clothianadin continues to be used in "oceanic" amounts! Why?

It is a strange phenomenon we see repeatedly….an unexplained and fiercely loyal allegiance of our politicians to large, wealthy and powerful chemical companies who can seemingly do whatever they want!
======
Illness Among Pesticide Applicators in the Northern 'States

As long ago as the early '90s, the University of Minnesota found significantly more birth defects among children in the Red River Valley than in other agricultural regions of that state.

Of these, most were born to men who applied pesticides for a living to wheat, sugar beet and potato crops. And most of those children were conceived in spring, when herbicide use was the greatest.

The children developed significantly more problems with circulation, breathing and genital formation than the general population.

The lowest rates of birth defects were found in what are called "non-crop" regions of Minnesota.

"Birth defects, season of conception, and gender of children born to pesticide applicators living in the Red River Valley of Minnesota, USA.
Garry VF, Harkins ME, Erickson LL, Long-Simpson LK, Holland SE, Burroughs BL.
Environmental Medicine and Pathology Laboratory, 1st Floor Stone Laboratory 1, University of Minnesota,"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12060842 ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.
Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

========================

Spousal effects

Reproductive outcomes in the women of the Red River Valley of the north. I. The spouses of pesticide applicators: pregnancy loss, age at menarche, and exposures to pesticides.
Garry VF, Harkins M, Lyubimov A, Erickson L, Long L.

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota

In addition, these same studies showed that the wives of men who applied chemicals, especially fungicides, had a significant increase in their risk of miscarriages..

And, of the kids born to fungicide applicators, significantly fewer were boys than girls. This suggests this kind of product may even be a determinant in the gender of newborns.

Southern Manitoba and Pesticide Hazards

A year-&-a-half ago, a bright young researcher at the University of Manitoba, Jennifer Magoon, did an exhaustive and groundbreaking bit of research. Sifting through mounds of records, she cross-referenced the health insurance files of thousands of people in rural southern Manitoba with agricultural maps showing the intensity of pesticide use in the region.

She found a link between the intensity of the use of pesticides, especially insecticides, and moderate to serious health conditions of the people there.

For example, where insecticide use was average, there was a 32.7 percent, or slightly less than a one-in-three chance of lower birth rates, respiratory distress and jaundice among the very young. Where pesticide use was twice that amount, these illnesses increased by a full four percentage points - to 36.7 percent!

And, where insecticide use was average, severe birth defects like spina bifida, Down Syndrome and cleft palate could be expected in 11.8% of newborns. Where pesticide use was doubled, that figure jumped to 12.8%, an increase of one full percentage point.

Magoon calls these numbers statistically significant and very unlikely to happen by chance.

Her recommendations?

Decrease pesticide use and conduct further studies that would pin down a "cause and effect" relationship.
Have either of these things happened?

Rather than decrease pesticide use, governments here and in North America are falling over themselves to approve new GMO crops, like alf alfa and sugar beets. And if you hear a politician or chemical manufacturer claim that GM crops need less pesticides, don't believe it! Field studies show just the opposite is happening.

So not only are the health risks, especially to children, unacceptable, it is becoming clear that GM crops are being developed, not in the interests of our food producers, or consumers, but as cash cows for the chemical corporations.

As for further studies, I haven't heard of any. Have you? I 'd invite you as journalists to make inquiries, to find out why!
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LARRY GETS PUBLISHED!

Friends - Just wanted to let you know, my article "Lament for the Honeybee," has now been published in the online magazine, "OnEarth." "OnEarth" is produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a major international environmental organization with more than a million members!
ABOUT: "OnEarth, the award-winning environmental magazine, explores politics, nature, wildlife, culture, science, health, the challenges that confront our planet, and the solutions that promise to heal and protect it.

Our contributors include (North) America's finest writers and poets whose original works appear on pages filled with prize-winning photography and splendid art.

Are you curious about who's cutting down (North) America's great forests... the newest plan to save Congo's last primates...why Detroit is stuck in reverse… the sex life of the poisonous moonflower… how Aboriginal Australians set the land on fire…a journey through Canada's wild northern Rockies? In every issue, we deliver stories to enlighten, surprise, and delight you.

Founded in 1979 as The Amicus Journal, OnEarth continues NRDC's 25-year commitment to independent, groundbreaking environmental journalism."

Read Larry's article here.

Comment#1

JBL wrote on February 23, 2009, 04:20PM:
Modern Man conquers nature.
Do we really want to be part of the demise of bees and bats in our life time?
Bees and bats have been around before we came onto the scene but it has taken only a few years of "modern technology" from the hands of scientists to start the process of vanquishing these much needed species.
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Testimonials

"Congratulations Larry,
That is fantastic….way to go and make a positive difference in this wonderful world we live in. Mother Nature and the Animal Kingdom are also grateful. May you continue to speak your noble harmonious mind. Thank You."
Cheryl
(Cheryl is an activist for an ethical and sustainable livestock industry in Manitoba.)
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"Hi Larry,
Great article! Thanks for all the work you put into researching and writing. The world needs to know this information."
(Kate Storey - organic farmer & candidate - Green Party of Canada - Grandview, MB)
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"Congrats Larry! I am glad that you are getting this distributed. It needs to be disseminated."
(James Beddome - Leader, the Green Party of Manitoba)
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"Hi Larry;
Congratulations and continued success!"
(Joe Leschyshn - anti factory-farm activist in Manitoba, CA)
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"Way to go Larry!"
(Glen Koroluk - water activist, Winnipeg.)
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(Please click on the "Honeybees" label down and to the right to read more on the subject.)