David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/glyphosate-new-brunswick-roundup-1.5365249
In New Brunswick, opposing forestry industry practices can be dangerous for your career
Longtime critic of glyphosate spraying filed a wrongful-dismissal suit against his forestry college last week
· CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2019 5:00 AM AT
Rod Cumberland was the New Brunswick government's deer biologist for 15 years before teaching at the Maritime College of Forest Technology in Fredericton. On Nov. 18 he filed a lawsuit for wrongful dismissal from the college. (Radio-Canada)
Along Restigouche County's Route 180, in northern New Brunswick, is a perfectly arranged silhouette of conifer plantations, put in sharp relief by a setting sun.
But this forest is cultivated, and the political battle around it has come to define much of the political conversation in that remote part of Canada.
At issue is glyphosate, a herbicide sprayed by forestry companies on many of the province's forests.
The chemical has become a key part the province's forest economy, but it is also the subject of several lawsuits in Canada and the U.S. alleging it is to blame for health risks, such as some forms of cancer.
Health Canada disputes those claims, saying, "No pesticide regulatory authority in the world currently considers glyphosate to be a cancer risk to humans at the levels at which humans are currently exposed."
When forests are clear cut, hardwood species often outcompete coniferous trees, which are favoured by forestry companies. Glyphosate kills off those hardwoods, allowing coniferous trees to dominate.
Eighty per cent of the forest harvest on public lands in New Brunswick is done by clear cutting.
About one-third of that clearcut land is sprayed with glyphosate.
But those who oppose these forest industry practices can sometimes pay a heavy price.
A college instructor and longtime critic of glyphosate was recently fired from a forestry college and has filed a wrongful-dismissal suit. Another university professor lost a post on a scientific panel when he opposed forest industry practices.
Other scientists suffered similar consequences.
"The industry's goal is to make money, and we feel that it might be at any cost," says Francine Lévesque, a member of the group Écovie.
The environmental advocacy group was one of the backers of a 2018 petition calling for the end of glyphosate spraying that was one of the biggest in New Brunswick history. It garnered 34,000 names and was tabled in the provincial legislature.
Francine Lévesque is with Écovie, a New Brunswick environmental group. Her family also runs a canoeing adventure company on the Restigouche River. The goal of the forestry industry 'is to make money, and we feel that it might be at any cost,' she says. (Gil Shochat/Radio-Canada)
The use of chemicals such as glyphosate is the least costly and most efficient way to maximize productivity, says Mike Legere, executive director of Forest NB, an industry group.
"There are two camps, and people are ideological. There is a certain perception of the forest, and it's hard to change people's minds," he said.
Concern over deer food
Rod Cumberland was the New Brunswick government's deer biologist for 15 years before going on to work at the Maritime College of Forest Technology, a forestry school in Fredericton.
While in government, he became convinced that glyphosate was destroying the deer's food — mostly deciduous trees and shrubs. This meant that their numbers on Crown land were declining.
"What we spray in one year will feed over a third of the current deer herd," said Cumberland. "That's 32,000 tonnes of food, the equivalent of 300 dump trucks."
Cumberland was attacked most notably by J. D. Irving (JDI), the province's biggest forestry company. JDI said his claims were "irresponsible and are not supported by current data and scientific research."
The company did not answer questions from Radio-Canada's program Enquête for this story.
Last June, Cumberland was fired from his teaching position at the Maritime College of Forest Technology, where he worked for seven years.
Among the reasons he was fired was "undermining the content of the seminar on the Science of Vegetation Management."
"It sounds so convoluted," Cumberland said, but "that's my perspective on glyphosate."
He filed a lawsuit on Nov. 18 for wrongful dismissal. The college declined to comment.
The Maritime College of Forest Technology told Gerald Redmond his services were no longer needed the day after he criticized Cumberland's firing. (CBC)
Gerald Redmond, a former executive director of the Maritime College, who until recently taught there part-time, said he was pressured by the school's board of directors to punish Cumberland for his positions on glyphosate. After speaking publicly to defend Cumberland, he was told this summer that his services were "no longer needed."
"The right thing to do is to ban glyphosate as quickly as possible from our spraying on our forests,"
Redmond said. He wants an investigation on "the influence of the forest industry on the firing of Rod Cumberland at the Maritime College of Forest Technology."
The Canadian Association of University Teachers says the academic freedom of both teachers has been violated and that they were denied due process. The province's Green Party has called for an investigation.
The case is reminiscent of the 2015 dismissal of the province's chief medical officer, Eilish Cleary.
She was removed while she was investigating the use of glyphosate. The government said her removal was a personnel matter.
Another scientist targeted
Biologist Marc-André Villard spent more than 20 years studying bird species in the Acadian forest.
His research as a professor at the Université de Moncton led him to a clear conclusion: intensive forestry in New Brunswick has an impact on its biodiversity.
"Some bird species avoid conifer tree plantations," Villard says, making those spaces less biodiverse.
In 2014 the government increased the amount of conservation forest, public land aside for wildlife habitat, that logging companies would have access to.
Villard felt the government had gone too far. He spoke to CBC Television, arguing against the new agreement. He worried about what an increase in conifer plantations would do to overall forest health.
Villard's statements did not go unnoticed. He was a member of J.D. Irving's scientific advisory committee but lost the position after he spoke up. He also lost research funding which he received from JDI.
"The company doesn't accept certain points of view and wants to control what is said publicly, even if one has academic freedom as a professor," Villard said. "This is not accepted by the company."
In New Brunswick, clearcutting is the primary technique used by the forest industry to cut wood on public lands. (Gil Shochat/Radio-Canada)
With growing opposition to glyphosate, forestry companies are defending their practices.
"It's amazing how poorly informed people are about this," says Legere, the industry spokesperson.
The provincial government, working with the big forestry companies, set up forestinfo.ca, meant to "share resources and information about forest management."
But critics say the site is biased in favour of industry. For example, the site uses toxicologist Len Ritter, an emeritus professor from the University of Guelph and an expert on the impact of pesticides on human health.
Ritter has been criticized for his pro-industry views including his position on pesticides.
The Monsanto Papers — documents released as a result of U.S. litigation against the pesticide manufacturer — made several references to Ritter.
He was described as someone who "delivers the interpretations and the messages that we want to put forward on this subject" as well as someone who could "defend [Monsanto's] product," glyphosate.
Ritter did not respond to emails from Enquête.
Banned in Quebec
Quebec is the only province that bans all herbicides in forestry management. Their use has been replaced by physical clearing of land.
"It's populism," says Legere, who accuses herbicide opponents of being blind to the evidence of glyphosate safety.
"Not at all, we did our homework," says Luc Bouthillier, former commissioner of the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE) the public hearing body, which recommended banning the use of pesticides over Quebec forests. The measure took effect in 2001.
The BAPE heard from the agrochemical industry, foresters, environmentalists, public health experts and regular citizens.
"It was clear that there was a concern held by a majority that seemed real and manifest. It was also well-founded," the former commissioner, who is now a professor of forestry policy at Laval University, said.
The ban, he says, has contributed to the development of new methods of forest management and reflects a social consensus in the province.
216 Comments All the comments appear to have been deleted
David Amos
Methinks some clever lawyer would have read my documents by now and asked me about my doings Bayer Corp many years ago N'esy Pas?
$500 million Roundup suit in Canada is Bayer's latest headache
By Greg Edwards – Reporter, St. Louis Business Journal
Nov 25, 2019, 12:50pm EST
"Bayer is facing Roundup liability north of the border from a $500
million class-action lawsuit filed by a Canadian law firm.
The suit contends the German pharmaceuticals giant and Monsanto Co.,
the manufacturer of Roundup, have been acting with reckless disregard
for the safety of Canadians by selling weed killer Roundup, which is
alleged to cause cancer. Bayer bought St. Louis- based Monsanto for
$63 billion in 2018."
David Amos
Reply to @David Amos:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/
Lawyers launch $500M class-action lawsuit against Roundup makers
Weed killer contains herbicide glyphosate, alleged to cause cancer
CBC News · Posted: Nov 20, 2019 11:33 AM ET
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2019 14:51:53 -0400
Subject: Attn J. Scott Stanley I am on the phone to you right now The
pdf hereto is very much for real
To: stanley@murphybattista.com
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
https://www.murphybattista.
J. Scott Stanley
stanley@murphybattista.com
Tel: 604-683-9621
https://www.cbc.ca/news/
B.C. man sues Monsanto, Bayer, alleging Roundup herbicide caused his cancer
Suit is one of thousands against Roundup maker that claim the herbicide causes non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
A B.C. man is suing the makers of the glyphosate-based chemical, claiming it is responsible for his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. (Jeff Roberson/Associated Press)
For almost a year, Cliff Sissons has been taking about 20 pills a day for pain, fatigue and headaches.
It's hard to keep track of all their names. One, he recalled, starts with a G.
Sissons, a 57-year-old man from Cranbrook, B.C., is trying to stay positive after a battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
He blames the blood cancer and his other, ongoing ailments on his use of the glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup over a span of 31 years.
"It's pretty shocking," Sissons said while choking back tears as he described the moment he heard the diagnosis.
"[My family] didn't say a lot. They were kinda surprised. But things happen. You gotta deal with it."
Cliff Sissons is suing makers and retailers of Roundup, alleging exposure to the herbicide caused him to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. (Margaret Sissons)
Fortunately, Sissons says his doctors have found no further signs of cancer since he received treatment.
But in a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday, Sissons alleges Roundup maker Bayer — the pharmaceutical company that owns Roundup maker, Monsanto — are liable for his illnesses. Monsanto Canada and Bayer Cropscience are also named as defendants as are retailers Canadian Tire and Home Hardware.
Sissons' Vancouver-based lawyer, J. Scott Stanley, says this is the first non-class action lawsuit filed over alleged Roundup-related illnesses in this province.
The claim alleges the retailers violated B.C.'s Sale of Goods Act by selling Roundup, alleging it is an unsafe product.
Sissons is seeking unspecified damages for physical and mental suffering, lost past and possible future wages, and the possible future costs of his care.
None of the allegations have been proven in court and Bayer, in an emailed statement, said Roundup is not dangerous.
(Loreen Pindera/CBC)
"While we have great sympathy for plaintiffs, glyphosate-based herbicides are not the cause of illness and we will vigorously defend our products," a spokesperson wrote.
"We firmly stand behind the safety of glyphosate-based products and as a company devoted to life sciences, assure Canadians that their health and the environment are our top priority."
Landscaping work
According to the claim, Sissons used Roundup between 1987 and 2018 in his work building homes in the Cranbrook area.He was a bakery owner for 21 years but also built or finished three homes to make extra money. He spent about 15 years living in the three homes before selling them.
Landscaping was part of the work at those homes and his approach to landscaping involved mixing and spraying Roundup to kill weeds several times each year.
Vancouver lawyer J. Scott Stanley has filed a negligence lawsuit against Monsanto on behalf of his client Clifford Sissons, of Cranbrook, B.C. (CBC)
"I used it all the time because it actually worked really well," he said, chuckling. "Obviously too well. It worked on me, too."
For several months in 2018, Sissons said he experienced strange pains, including headaches. He eventually developed double vision.
He went to his doctor and cancer in his eye was discovered in June 2018.
He says after 10 rounds of radiation treatment his doctors believe the cancer was eliminated.
$86 US million payout
Allegations of health problems caused by Roundup have led to numerous lawsuits in the U.S.
Bayer was ordered to pay $2 billion in May to a California couple that alleged their cancers were caused by the product. The jury ruled the company was liable for past failures to warn about possible health risks that may be caused by Roundup.
A judge later reduced the payout to $86 million.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans" in 2015.
Bayer rejects that finding and maintains that glyphosate is safe, pointing to 2019 Health Canada findings.
Three proposed class-action suits against Roundup manufacturers have been filed in B.C. this year. Elsewhere in Canada suits have been filed in Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Stanley, Sissons' lawyer, said the lawsuit will take a different approach: by representing a single client. The litigation will proceed faster and the discovery process will produce more information.
"This is the one and only thing that would have caused his lymphoma," Stanley said. "Based upon the research we've done and the fact that he was using the most concentrated form of this product, it's certainly enough to cause [lymphoma]."
Sissons says he's not only suing for himself but to make the public aware of the alleged health risks from glyphosate.
About the Author
With files from Paisley Woodward
---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 13:06:32 -0400
Subject: Fwd: Attn Darryl Singer I am on the phone to you right now
The pdf hereto is very much for real
To: aenriquez@diamondlaw.ca
---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 12:58:31 -0400
Subject: Attn Darryl Singer I am on the phone to you right now The pdf
hereto is very much for real
To: darryl@diamondlaw.ca
Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
https://www.darrylsinger.com/
Darryl Singer, Head of Commercial and Civil Litigation Practice Group,
Diamond & Diamond Law
darryl@diamondlaw.ca
Phone
(416) 628-4926
Darryl Singer, J.D. Barrister and Solicitor
500 - 255 Consumers Road
Toronto, Ontario Canada
M2J 1R4
(416) 256-1600, ext. 345
darryl@diamondlaw.ca
In New Brunswick, opposing forestry industry practices can be
dangerous for your career
Longtime critic of glyphosate spraying filed a wrongful-dismissal suit
against his forestry college last week
Gil Shochat, Sylvie Fournier · CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2019 5:00 AM AT
216 Comment
David Amos
Methinks some clever lawyer would have read my documents by now and
asked me about my doings Bayer Corp many years ago N'esy Pas?
$500 million Roundup suit in Canada is Bayer's latest headache
By Greg Edwards – Reporter, St. Louis Business Journal
Nov 25, 2019, 12:50pm EST
"Bayer is facing Roundup liability north of the border from a $500
million class-action lawsuit filed by a Canadian law firm.
The suit contends the German pharmaceuticals giant and Monsanto Co.,
the manufacturer of Roundup, have been acting with reckless disregard
for the safety of Canadians by selling weed killer Roundup, which is
alleged to cause cancer. Bayer bought St. Louis- based Monsanto for
$63 billion in 2018." « less
David Amos
Reply to @David Amos:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/
Lawyers launch $500M class-action lawsuit against Roundup makers
Weed killer contains herbicide glyphosate, alleged to cause cancer
CBC News · Posted: Nov 20, 2019 11:33 AM ET | Last Updated: November 22
Bottles of Roundup herbicide, a product of Monsanto, are displayed on
a store shelf in St. Louis in 2011. A $500 million lawsuit is being
launched in Canada against the makers alleging the chemical ingredient
in the product, glyphosate, can cause various health risks. (Jeff
Roberson/Associated Press)
Diamond & Diamond, a national personal injury law firm in Canada, is
spearheading a $500 million class-action lawsuit against various
Roundup makers, including pharmaceutical company Bayer, the owner of
Roundup maker Monsanto.
Roundup is a weedkiller that contains glyphosate, a herbicide chemical
often used by homeowners to treat their lawns.
There have been many lawsuits filed across North America alleging that
glyphosate can cause health problems including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,
a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system.
In the United States alone, there have been about 18,000 lawsuits
filed against the makers of Roundup.
Diamond & Diamond is calling this Canada's largest class-action
lawsuit against Roundup makers. There are currently more than 60
individuals named as plaintiffs, but the firm said they believe
thousands may have been affected.
Bayer shares plunge after Roundup hit with $289M lawsuit over cancer link
This year, there have already been lawsuits against Roundup
manufacturers filed in B.C., Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This
one would be the first class action in Canada and follows the likes of
class-action lawsuits filed in the U.S.
Darryl Singer, the head of commercial and civil litigation at Diamond
& Diamond, said the plaintiffs involved in this class-action lawsuit
are looking not only for financial compensation, but also what he
calls "behaviour modification" so that the same thing doesn't happen
again in the future with other products in Canada.
Retired Manitoba farmer battling cancer proposes class action suit
against makers of Roundup
"If there's not these lawsuits that force companies like Monsanto to
write these big cheques, they have no incentive to change the way they
do business," Singer said.
Singer said the plaintiffs have also been diagnosed with other forms
of cancer, like brain and lung cancer, and some of his clients are
acting on behalf of an estate.
"These are not minor injuries," he said. "Of the [plaintiffs] that are
living, some of them are not likely to see the end of this lawsuit
because they will pass away before that."
Bayer Canada said it will "vigorously defend" its products, according
to a statement the company provided to CBC News.
"While we have great sympathy for the plaintiffs, glyphosate-based
herbicides are not the cause of their illnesses," the statement said.
"Glyphosate has been extensively studied globally by scientists and
regulators, and results from this research confirm it is not
carcinogenic. We firmly stand behind the safety of glyphosate-based
products and as a company devoted to life sciences, assure Canadians
that their health and the environment are our top priority."
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|
https://www.bizjournals.com/
$500 million Roundup suit in Canada is Bayer's latest headache
By Greg Edwards – Reporter, St. Louis Business Journal
Nov 25, 2019, 12:50pm EST
Bayer is facing Roundup liability north of the border from a $500
million class-action lawsuit filed by a Canadian law firm.
The suit contends the German pharmaceuticals giant and Monsanto Co.,
the manufacturer of Roundup, have been acting with reckless disregard
for the safety of Canadians by selling weed killer Roundup, which is
alleged to cause cancer. Bayer bought St. Louis- based Monsanto for
$63 billion in 2018.
The law firm Diamond & Diamond, a national personal injury law firm,
said that it has 60 plaintiffs but that thousands may have been
affected.The plaintiffs are looking for not only financial
compensation but also for “behavior modification” so that the same
thing doesn’t happen again in the future with other products in
Canada, online news publication RT reported.
Bayer Canada said it will “vigorously defend” its products. “While we
have great sympathy for the plaintiffs, glyphosate-based herbicides
are not the cause of their illnesses,” the company said in a
statement.
The lawsuit is the first class action involving Roundup in Canada,
though individual suits against its manufacturers have been also filed
this year in British Columbia, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The number of people suing over Roundup more than doubled in three
months, to 42,700 in October from 18,400 in July, Bayer disclosed in
reporting third-quarter financial results.
In the first three Roundup cases to go to trial, all in California,
juries awarded plaintiffs more than $2 billion for cancer claims,
though the awards were significantly reduced by judges. Bayer said it
plans further appeals in the cases.
A suit against Bayer in St. Louis Circuit Court that had been
scheduled for this month was delayed a few weeks ago as the company
pursued a settlement with U.S. plaintiffs who have made Roundup
claims.
Separately, Monsanto pleaded guilty to spraying a banned pesticide —
Penncap-M, which contained the banned pesticide methyl parathion — on
research crops in Hawaii in 2014, Reuters reported.
Monsanto agreed to plead guilty to the spraying, a misdemeanor, and
enter a deferred prosecution agreement for two felony counts of
illegally storing “acute hazardous waste.” The felony case will be
dismissed if Monsanto honors the agreement’s terms for two years,
including by maintaining an environmental compliance program at its
Hawaii sites.
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