In 1999, after years of study, hearings and testimony, the Senate Subcommittee on the Boreal Forest released Competing Realities: The Boreal Forest at Risk.
The report examined ecological damage, cumulative impacts, forestry practices, Indigenous realities and the enormous economic pressures being placed on Canada’s boreal forest. It devoted an entire chapter to “Aboriginal Realities,” recognizing traditional land use, jurisdiction and the deep relationship Indigenous Peoples have with the forest.
And then came the recommendation that should have changed Canadian forestry:
“All herbicide and chemical pesticide use in the boreal forest should be phased out as soon as possible.”
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WERE ALREADY ON THE FRONT LINES.
Indigenous Peoples were not waiting for Canada to discover there was a problem. They were already formally opposing chemical spraying on their lands, defending the forests, waters, medicines, wildlife and traditional ways of life connected to them.
MEANWHILE, MONSANTO WAS SHAPING THE SCIENCEIn 2000, just one year after the Senate released Competing Realities, an influential review concluded that Roundup and glyphosate did not pose a health risk under expected conditions of use.
Twenty-five years later, the journal retracted it.
Internal Monsanto documents revealed that Monsanto employees had played an undisclosed role in drafting the paper, while the named authors had received compensation from the company.
1999: Canada’s Senate recommends that herbicide and chemical pesticide use in the boreal forest be phased out as soon as possible.
2000: A Monsanto-backed safety review reinforces an entirely different message about glyphosate.
2001: Québec ends the use of herbicides in its public forests.
2025: The 2000 glyphosate safety review is retracted after Monsanto’s undisclosed involvement comes to light.
THEN CAME 27 YEARS OF NEW WORDS
Today Canada talks about:
Environmental Justice.
Meaningful Participation.
Cumulative Impacts.
Indigenous Rights.
Indigenous Knowledge.
Best-Available Science.
Healthy, Safe and Sustainable Environments.
Canada’s new Environmental Justice Strategy says affected communities should meaningfully participate in environmental decisions. It recognizes cumulative impacts, Section 35 and UN Declaration rights, and says environmental protection should be guided by best-available science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems.
Beautiful words. 🙄
ONTARIO HAS NEW WORDS TOO
Ontario’s professional foresters now have an Indigenous Peoples, Lands & Resources Standard.
The Ontario Professional Foresters Association acknowledges that forestry occurs on treaty lands and unceded lands, and that professional foresters must understand Indigenous history, jurisdiction, lands and resources.
BUT WHAT CHANGED?
Canada said phase out forest herbicides in 1999.
Indigenous Peoples had already been opposing the spraying.
Today governments speak about Indigenous rights, meaningful participation, cumulative impacts, environmental justice, sustainability and current science.
Yet Chemical Forestry continues.
WHEN THE WORDS CHANGE BUT THE PRACTICE DOESN’T
| They say now… | But… |
|---|---|
| Environmental Justice | Chemical Forestry continues |
| Meaningful participation | Generations of opposition have not ended it |
| Indigenous rights | Spraying continues across treaty and traditional territories |
| Cumulative impacts | Forest herbicide use has continued for decades |
| Best-available science | The latest warnings and science have not ended it. |
WORDS ARE NOT OUTCOMES
A standard recognizing Indigenous jurisdiction does not erase generations of opposition.
A commitment to environmental justice does not itself deliver environmental justice.
THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS MAY STILL BE THE ONES CANADA WROTE IN 1999
“All herbicide and chemical pesticide use in the boreal forest should be phased out as soon as possible.”
Twenty-seven years later, perhaps Canada doesn’t need more words. Perhaps it needs to finally act on the ones it already wrote.