In The News

Court decision in youth climate lawsuit against Ontario government ignites hope

The Conversation | June 20, 2023

As smoky air blankets much of Canada and offers a mere glimpse of what lies in store as global temperatures continue to rise, there is hope that in cases like Mathur v Ontario, the courts will refuse to be silent bystanders while the climate crisis erodes the ecological foundations of life on this planet.

Reaction to the Mathur v Ontario decision

CBC Radio | April 20, 2023

Nathalie Chalifour, co-counsel for Friends of the Earth, spoke with Alan Neal from CBC‘s All in a Day about the historic youth climate lawsuit Mathur v Ontario and its implications for climate litigation. Listen via the CBC app.

Meet the 10-year-old campaigning against plastic stickers on produce

Canada’s National Observer | March 13, 2023

A 10-year-old girl from Markham, Ont., is taking aim at one of the tiniest, most ubiquitous bits of plastic pollution — the stickers on fruits and vegetables. Maya Thiru is the face of a campaign lobbying for Canada to find another way to identify produce.

How a 10-year-old Canadian girl is fighting to eliminate grocery store produce stickers

CTV News | March 7, 2023

She may have only been on this Earth for about a decade, but Maya Thiru is already making it her mission to care for the environment.

To further tackle single-use plastic waste, 10-year-old Thiru is leading an initiative, ‘Maya’s Plastic Pollution Campaign’ supported by Friends of the Earth, a Canadian environmental advocacy organization, which aims to build awareness of the harm of plastic stickers on fruits and vegetables in grocery stores.

Maya’s plastic pollution campaign

Focus on Victoria | March 7, 2023

by Beatrice Olivasti and John Bennett

A little girl launches a big campaign to get rid of those little stickers on fruits and vegetables. TEN-YEAR-OLD MAYA THIRU, who lives in the Greater Toronto area (GTA), has turned a visit to the grocery store with her mom into a Friends of the Earth Canada environmental campaign. Maya’s Plastic Pollution Campaign hopes to mobilize kids, parents and teachers across Canada in the struggle to rid the planet of plastic pollution.

Paradoxes of Canada’s conservation policies – Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press | January 25, 2023

by John Bennett, Senior Policy Advisor at Friends of the Earth Canada.

Even as the federal government says Canada is moving to conserve more of our natural environment, two of its largest provinces are moving in the other direction.

The paradoxes of Canada’s conservation policies

The Hamilton Spectator| January 20, 2023

by John Bennett, Senior Policy Advisor at Friends of the Earth Canada.

Traditionally, the host country kicks off each session with a positive announcement, so the prime minister’s announcement was no surprise. He said Canada is committed to preserving 30 per cent of our territory by 2030, one of the targets set by previous biodiversity conferences. However, none of this preserving will interfere with business as usual nor be close to any urban area.

The paradoxes of Canada’s conservation policies

Prince Albert Daily Herald (Quoi Media) | January 18, 2023

by John Bennett, Senior Policy Advisor at Friends of the Earth Canada.

Even as the federal government says Canada is moving to conserve more of our natural environment, two of its largest provinces are moving in the other direction.

Camions lourds au centre-ville d’Ottawa : « une violation des droits »

Radio Canada | 12 janvier 2023

Entrevue avec Lynda Collins, avocate travaillant à la Clinique de droit de l’environnement d’Ecojustice. Représentant les groupes environnementaux Les Amis de la Terre et l’Association canadienne des médecins pour l’environnement (Comité de l’Ontario), a envoyé une lettre de quinze pages au maire d’Ottawa, Mark Sutcliffe, à propos de cette question épineuse qui fait l’objet de discussions depuis près de deux décennies dans le Capitale nationale.

Lisez la lettre à Mark Sutcliffe, maire d’Ottawa (en anglais seulement)

Interview with Lynda Collins on clearing the air in Ottawa to protect downtown Ottawans from the dangers of air pollution caused by heavy trucks

580CFRA Radio | January 10, 2023

Lynda Collins, on behalf of Friends of the Earth Canada and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (Ontario Committee), talks about the City of Ottawa’s choice to route heavy trucks through its high-density downtown core is putting lives and livelihoods at risk to the dangers of air pollution caused by heavy trucks.

Read the letter to Mark Sutcliffe, Mayor of Ottawa

Downtown Ottawa residents cite human rights violations in push to eliminate trucking corridor

CTV News Ottawa | January 10, 2023

Interview with Lynda Collins, from the Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic on behalf of Friends of the Earth Canada and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (Ontario Committee), talks about the City of Ottawa’s choice to route heavy trucks through its high-density downtown core is putting lives and livelihoods at risk to the dangers of air pollution caused by heavy trucks.

Bennett: Paradoxes abound among Canada’s conservation policies

Ottawa Citizen | January 8, 2023

While the federal government says Canada is moving to conserve more of our natural environment, two of its largest provinces are moving in the other direction.

Positive for Corporations, Negative for Nature

RealWorldRadio (RWR) | December 13, 2022

At the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity taking place in Montreal, Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) has denounced the negotiations for the Global Biodiversity Framework, saying they are “captured” by transnational corporations and that the solutions on the table are actually false solutions

Progress slow at COP talks although some agreement achieved, says Guilbeault

Toronto Star | December 9, 2022

MONTREAL – Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Friday he’s trying to light a fire under his international colleagues to pick up the pace on negotiations at an international meeting on saving the planet’s biodiversity.

A member of the Wilderness Committee symbolically sprays fellow demonstrators [Beatrice Olivastri, CEO of Friends of the Earth], dressed up as insects, with the herbicide Glyphosate outside a conference given by agrochemical lobby group CropLife at the COP15 United Nations conference on biodiversity in Montreal, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Looking on is Fort Ruppert hereditary chief David Mingo Knox, at left. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

COP15 in Montreal: slow nature talks ‘dangerous’ for world

Toronto Star | December 9, 2022

A coalition of civil society leaders said Friday that negotiators have failed to make significant progress on critical parts of the text. Talks at the global environment summit in Montreal are moving dangerously slowly, observers say, risking not only a historic agreement to save nature but even the Paris Agreement’s climate-change targets.

Nuclear has poor track record. Wind, solar, geothermal, hydro don’t

Toronto Star | Ocotber 29, 2022

Readers’ Letters by John Bennett

$1B nuclear plan a tricky compromise, Oct. 25

How is giving a $1-billion, low-interest, federal-government loan to Ontario Power Generation leaving it “up to the market to decide?” Environment and Climate Change Minister, Steven Guilbeault, assured Canadians last November that it’s not up to the government to decide which sources of energy will reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

Competition Bureau probe of ‘flushable’ wipes goes down the drain

Globeand Mail | Ocotber 9, 2022

Friends of the Earth Canada and lawyers from Ecojustice filed a grievance with the Competition Bureau saying the makers of 20 disposable wipes were falsely advertising the products as safe to flush down the toilet, but the bureau has informed the groups in a letter that its inquiry is being closed because it’s not clear what it really means to be flushable.

Debate Heats Up Over Flushable Wipes

Zoomer Radio | Ocotber 9, 2022

Friends of the Earth Canada says it has scientific evidence that shows no disposable wipes can be safely flushed.

Advocates thrilled as court orders Health Canada to reassess glyphosate decision

The Canadian Press | February 7, 2022

Beatrice Olivastri, CEO of Friends of the Earth Canada, says there is some hope new evidence about glyphosate that has come to light in the last five years will be part of the picture as the PMRA reconsiders its decision.

Leave plastic where it belongs – in the tar sands

The Georgia Straight | January 21, 2022

Canada has just delivered its draft regulations to ban single-use plastics. That’s something to celebrate. Scientists have identified six plastic products most commonly found in Canadian litter: plastic checkout bags, stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery, straws, and food-service ware made from problematic plastics.

Leave raw material for plastic where it belongs — in the ground

Toronto Star | January 17, 2022

Canada’s draft regulations banning single-use plastics are worth celebrating. But a loophole would allow manufacturing for export to continue. In December, Canada delivered draft regulations to ban single-use plastics. That’s something to celebrate. Scientists have identified six plastic products most commonly found in Canadian litter.

Canadian Government Set to Review Glyphosate and All Pesticide Regulation in Major U-Turn

Sustainable Pulse | Aug 6, 2021

The pesticide industry’s attempt to increase the legal levels of glyphosate (Roundup) in Canadian food has been paused after a public outcry. In a major shift in pesticide policy, the Government of Canada is hitting the pause button to suspend decisions on maximum residue levels (MRLs) for glyphosate and any other pesticide under MRLs consideration until independent science is available and considered.