Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions on behalf of my constituents.
The first is a call to ban the cosmetic use of chemical pesticides on the basis of an extensive body of medical literature that has demonstrated that chemical pesticides pose a significant threat to human health.
The petitioners state that children are more at risk because of their smaller developing bodies and that cosmetic pesticides are also known to have an adverse environmental effect on non-targeted wildlife species like birds, fish and bees.
They feel very strongly that because at least one chemical company has considered challenging provincial legislation banning non-essential pesticide use through chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is important that the House of Commons enact Bill C-368 for an immediate federal moratorium on the cosmetic use of chemical pesticides as a precautionary approach until such time as their use has been scientifically proven to be safe.