First Nations people are pressing Ottawa to halt glyphosate spraying that they say is endangering their traditional diet and way of life, Julien Gignac writes

When Raymond Owl hunts and forages for medicines in woodlands around his Northern Ontario First Nation, he routinely finds blistering, withered plants and seldom sees game. The forest is part of a tract of land sprayed with glyphosate, the active ingredient in an herbicide used to expedite the growth of coniferous trees after clear-cutting. And Mr. Owl argues the effects of the chemical impede traditions on which his culture hinges.

“You don’t want to take a chance on it,” he said. “If you go up the road here where they sprayed, everything is black, like a forest fire.”

Not only does the forest near Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation – about an hour’s drive southwest of Sudbury – yield fewer fruits, he said, but his people are reluctant to take from the bush in case the flora and fauna are contaminated. Mr. Owl refuses to harvest in these affected areas; and for roughly two decades, he’s noticed marked changes to the environment.

“If the forests weren’t sprayed, we would harvest as we please without any fear.”

Mr. Owl, 73, co-founded an organization called the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Elders Group (TEK) to protect a large swath of forest along the northern shore of Lake Huron between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury that totals about 5.1 million hectares. TEK says glyphosate is harming their traditional territories, ways of life and consequently infringing upon their vested rights as First Nation people.

After two years of sending letters to provincial and federal officials, TEK organized a peaceful demonstration of about 50 First Nation elders and activists on Parliament Hill. They held placards emphasizing their discontent with what they consider a “poison.”

They want the department to abolish the use of glyphosate in their territories. TEK has been pressing Health Canada and the Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) for a moratorium. But the group has made little headway.