A Public Health, Environmental, and Indigenous Rights Scandal
Conservation for the North, Poisoned Forests for the South
Ottawa may celebrate “global milestones” in Indigenous rights and invest millions in conservation in the Northwest Territories, but in Ontario, those same principles have been ignored for decades.
In Ontario’s forests, chemical herbicides have been used for decades to support industrial logging. They are sprayed across public forests and Treaty Territories without consent, affecting land, water, wildlife, and the people who rely on them. Governments have defended this practice by saying Health Canada considers these chemicals “safe.”
That claim is no longer supported by the scientific record.
A key scientific paper used by regulators to claim glyphosate is safe has been formally withdrawn. This happened quietly, with no public announcement and no review of policies that relied on it. Most people are only learning about it now. Continuing forest herbicide spraying in these circumstances raises serious concerns about regulatory responsibility. Health Canada’s decision to stand by old assessments instead of reviewing them raises serious questions about accountability.
The injustice is made worse by geography and politics. Almost all forest spraying happens in Northern Ontario, while 94% of Ontarians live in the South. Most people don’t know forest spraying is happening at all, or mistake it for something else entirely. Because of this, governments have failed to act despite years of opposition.
The result:
- Rural and northern voices are ignored because they don’t carry political weight
- Indigenous rights and treaties are pushed aside by forestry plans, even while governments talk about “Indigenous stewardship”
- Watersheds are contaminated to make forestry cheaper
- Wildlife habitat is destroyed for short-term profit
- Forests that store large amounts of carbon are removed and replaced with flammable plantations, undermining carbon storage and climate action
Decades of Warnings, Decades of Inaction
1950s–1970s → Chemical herbicide spraying begins in Ontario’s public forests and Indigenous territories
Herbicides derived from Agent Orange components (2,4-D and 2,4,5-T) are introduced to support industrial forestry, without public consent and without Indigenous permission.
1980s → Indigenous Nations pass formal resolutions opposing herbicide spraying
First Nations across Northern Ontario adopt Band Council Resolutions citing harm to land, water, medicines, wildlife, treaty rights, and future generations.
1999 → Federal warning ignored
The Senate Subcommittee on the Boreal Forest recommends phasing out all forest herbicide use due to ecological and health risks. Ontario takes no action.
2001 → Quebec bans forest herbicide spraying
Public pressure leads Quebec to become the only province to ban forest spraying on environmental and public-health grounds. Ontario continues spraying.
2007 → Political opposition placed on record at Queen’s Park
MPP Gilles Bisson presents petitions opposing forest herbicide spraying. No policy change follows.
April 22, 2009 → Ontario bans cosmetic pesticides but not forest spraying
Ontario prohibits lawn and garden pesticide use to “protect families and children” under Regulation 63/09, while continuing to aerially spray the same chemicals over public forests and treaty territories.
2015 → Global health alarm issued
The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Ontario maintains spraying.
2016 → Public protest reaches Parliament Hill
Communities and allies bring the issue directly to Ottawa as provincial governments continue to ignore calls to stop spraying.
2022 → First Nations sue Ontario to stop aerial spraying
Chapleau Cree, Missanabie Cree, and Brunswick House First Nations launch legal action to halt spraying on their territories.
2022–2023 → Federal Court overturns PMRA approval of Mad Dog Plus
The court finds Health Canada’s regulator acted unreasonably by failing to properly assess risks and ignoring evidence. The approval is set aside, exposing systemic flaws in the regulatory process Ontario relies on.
2023 → Key glyphosate safety paper formally retracted
A foundational scientific paper used by regulators to claim glyphosate safety is withdrawn from the scientific record. The retraction occurred without public notice or regulatory review, and communities are only now becoming aware that a core justification for spraying no longer meets scientific standards.
2024 → Earth Day mobilization demands Ontario STOP THE SPRAY
Stop The Spray Ontario, Indigenous Elders, Sierra Club, Safe Food Matters, and partners representing over 310,000 people publicly call on the province to end forest herbicide spraying.
Ontario governments failed to act despite Indigenous Treaty rights, community opposition, federal warnings, court rulings, and collapsing science. As a result, Indigenous and northern communities have been forced to take the issue directly to the public through billboards, public events, and campaigns to expose a practice that should have ended long ago.
Consultation Without Consent
Despite decades of opposition, the Ministry continues to release new spray maps each year for “inspection,” as if communities are still being asked for input when the decision to spray has already been made.
“Inspection” does not mean communities can stop the spray. It means they are notified after plans are already in place.
“Year after year, although our position to prohibit aerial herbicide spraying remains unchanged, the Ministry continues to approve aerial spraying projects.”
— Chief Keith Corston, Chapleau Cree First Nation
Click to view 2025 spray maps
Canada and Ontario are obligated to uphold Indigenous Treaty rights. Chemical herbicide spraying has occurred on Indigenous territories for decades without consent, raising serious concerns about compliance with those obligations.
Awareness is growing. The truth is coming to light. Public outrage is building.
2025 → Safe Food Matters and nearly 30 civil society and academic organizations form a Pesticides Coalition urging Health Canada to pause pesticide deregulation, modernize oversight, and launch a special review of glyphosate-based herbicides that protects human health and the environment.
2025 → Municipalities Are Taking Action
Moonbeam, West Nipissing and Larder Lake helped open the door. Now Municipalities across Ontario are backing existing resolutions or adopting their own to oppose forest herbicide spraying. 👉 View the municipalities that are stepping up
👉 Send an easy email to your municipality
Aerial spraying harms our forests, waterways, wildlife and communities, and for decades Ontario has failed to act despite Band Council resolutions, protests, petitions, federal reports, Quebec’s ban, Ontario’s own cosmetic ban, scientific warnings, lawsuits, and Indigenous rights. This raises serious concerns of maladministration and warrants independent review – send your complaint to the Ombudsman in just a few clicks.
This page summarizes publicly available records, court decisions, and scientific developments to inform public understanding and accountability.