Protect the North Central/Far North forests

Their 2026–2027 Annual Work Schedules are open for Public Viewing. They plan to spray spray spray 🚁💦☠️ 🙀… This is your chance to put your opposition on the formal record.

Your First and Last Name *

Your Address *

Your City *

Your Province *

Your Postal Code *

Your Email Address *

Letter

Re: 2026-2027 Annual Work Schedule (AWS) for the Central & Northern Forests, including Gordon Cosens, White River, Kenogami, Nagagami, Missinaibi, Abitibi River, Hearst, Pic, Spanish, Sudbury, Algoma, and North Shore Forests.

As the Registered Professional Foresters responsible for signing off on these forest operations, you are bound to act in the public interest and meet the standards of the profession. I am writing specifically to state that I do not consent to any forest-scale aerial or ground chemical herbicide spraying, including glyphosate, within these forests and their connected watersheds.

The scientific and ethical basis for continuing this practice is now indefensible. The Williams, Kroes & Munro (2000) glyphosate safety review was retracted in December 2025. The Seattle Statement finalized at the 2026 Seattle Glyphosate Symposium then made clear that the evidence of harm from glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides is now so strong that no further delay in regulation can be justified. That evidence no longer concerns cancer alone. It includes endocrine, neurological, reproductive, kidney, liver, and metabolic harms, along with genetic damage, oxidative stress, and hormonal disruption. Canada’s own Senate also concluded in 1999 that herbicide and chemical pesticide use in the boreal forest should be phased out as soon as possible.

Ontario’s own professional forestry system has also changed. As of May 1, 2025, the OPFA officially implemented its Indigenous Peoples, Lands & Resources Standard, and professional foresters practising in Ontario are now required to meet competencies related to Indigenous jurisdiction in Canada.

You may say Ontario policy drives this practice, but government policy does not sign off on herbicide spraying. Registered Professional Foresters do. If your professional duties to the public interest, precaution, and Indigenous jurisdiction do not meaningfully affect that decision, then what does your code actually require of you?

So my question is simple: How can any herbicide sign-off now be justified as ethical, precautionary, or in the public interest?

Indigenous Nations have opposed this practice for decades. Municipal opposition is also growing across this region, including Armour, Baldwin, Burk’s Falls, Essex, French River, Iroquois Falls, Joly, Killarney, Laird, Magnetawan, Mattice–Val Côté, McKellar, Moonbeam, North Shore, Norwich, Opasatika, Perry, Ramara, Sables-Spanish Rivers, Smooth Rock Falls, Spanish, St. Charles, St. Joseph, Sundridge, Tarbutt, Thessalon Amaranth, Val Rita-Harty, and Whitestone. Continuing to approve herbicide operations in the face of this opposition, stronger evidence of harm, and a profession that now explicitly recognizes Indigenous jurisdiction is not just a technical decision. It is an ethical issue.

Please ensure this submission is included in the official record for the 2026-2027 AWS public review, and please provide a direct written response explaining the professional, ethical, and precautionary basis for any herbicide sign-off in these forests.

If you prefer to copy and paste this into your own email program, send it to the addresses below.

TO:
Darren.tree@ontario.ca; ryan.miles@interfor.com; matthew.hollands@ontario.ca; sstraughan@sudburyforest.com; bob.l.robinson@ontario.ca; julia.ieropoli@interfor.com; waurner.adema@ontario.ca; brian.harbord@ontario.ca; taylor.hall@frmg.ca; krista.mayrand@greenfirst.ca; alaina.vandervoort@nfmcforestry.ca; shama.rana@ontario.ca; aaron.palmer@frmg.ca; mackenzie.jemmett@ontario.ca; d_goodfellow@hearstforest.com; joshua.breau@ontario.ca; taylor.sigouin2@greenfirst.ca; Kieran.quirk@ontario.ca; dhoffman@nedaak.ca; Victoria.elguea@ontario.ca

CC:
minister.mnrf@ontario.ca; premier@ontario.ca; minister.mecp@ontario.ca; minister.indigenousaffairs@ontario.ca; kevin.holland@pc.ola.org; GBourgouin-CO@ndp.on.ca; registrar@opfa.ca; opfa@opfa.ca; bill.rosenberg@pc.ola.org; jwest-qp@ndp.on.ca; gelinas-qp@ndp.on.ca; george.pirie@pc.ola.org; supporters@stopthespraycanada.ca

See where your Municipality Stands on Forest Spraying

Send your Notice of Non-Consent to Foresters in more regions

Send your Notice of Non-Consent to the Minister of Natural Resources

Aerial view of a deforested area with a winding road, featuring autumn colors and a lake in the background, with text questioning the whereabouts of moose.