Stop the Spray group wants herbicides banned for Ontario forests

As a bush plane pilot in northern Ontario, Joel Theriault has seen firsthand the effect herbicides have on forests in the region.

"There's something very wrong when you can see a mile in each direction and you can fly for weeks over these areas and not see a bear, and not see a wolf, and not see a moose," he said.

In the late summer and early fall, forestry companies and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry spray herbicides over wooded areas that are cultivated for their timber.

"They're spraying them to eliminate all of the competition for sunlight for the replanted conifer trees," said Theriault.

Because of his experience as a bush pilot and hunter, Theriault started a group called Stop the Spray Ontario to help end the practice.

He said he was convinced to start the group when he harvested a black bear that made his friends and family sick with nausea, headaches and diarrhea after consumingit.

"I looked it up online and those were the symptoms that matched up and lined up with overexposure to glyphosate based herbicides," Theriault said.

On Monday, Nickel Belt MPP France Glinas is presenting a petition from Stop the Spray asking the government to end the practice of spraying herbicide over Ontario forests.

Currently Quebec is the only Canadian province that bans the use of herbicides in the forestry industry.

Alternatives to herbicides

Nelson Thiffault, a researcher with the Canadian Forest Service at Natural Resources Canada, said there are alternatives to using herbicides in forestry, while still promoting the growth of new conifer trees.

Thiffault said manually cutting brush in specific areas to promote growth is one solution.

"The use of multi-manual brush saws for example, but potentially not all sites, are well suited for that kind of treatment," he said.

Forestry companies, the provincial government and some First Nations are involved in a Herbicide Alternatives Program, said Thiffault, that is exploring some of those alternatives.

Herbicides not widely used, says province

In an email to CBC News, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry spokesperson Marcela Mayo said herbicides are only applied to 0.2 per cent of the managed forested areas in Ontario every year.

"Health Canada studied glyphosate's environmental impact and confirmed its safety when used correctly," the email said.

"Ontario's forest managers prioritize safety measures, like buffer zones, despite glyphosate's rare use."