A billion-dollar class action lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court has been certified against Monsanto Canada over claims that its leading herbicide, Roundup, causes cancer. The lawsuit places Health Canada’s regulatory standards under scrutiny.
Bill Jeffrey, the executive director of the Centre for Health Science and Law, has highlighted the potential repercussions for chemical regulation in Canada, emphasizing the regulatory body’s perceived preference for industry studies and its alleged sluggish response to concerns.
“Health Canada’s indifference to the voluminous, damning U.S. litigation outcomes and the World Health Organization guidance, its stated preference for industry studies over peer review research and its foot-dragging on parliamentary review may be coming home to roost in Canadian courts,” said Mr. Jeffrey in a statement, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
At the heart of this legal battle is the safety of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Bayer Monsanto, the parent company, has consistently defended its product, citing approval from Health Canada as evidence of its safety.
The lawsuit brings to light a growing mistrust among the public regarding the herbicide’s alleged carcinogenic properties, a sentiment bolstered by a 2015 report from the World Health Organization classifying glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic” to humans.
The class action, known as DeBlock v. Monsanto Canada, is one of 16 similar lawsuits pending in Canada, mirroring the extensive litigation faced by the manufacturer in the U.S. South of the border, Monsanto agreed to a substantial $9.6 billion settlement in 2020 after facing over 125,000 claims for damages related to glyphosate.
Superior Court Justice Duncan Grace, who presided over the certification in Ontario, underscored the contentious nature of these lawsuits and the challenges that lie ahead in the proceedings.
“The fundamental and class wide issue is whether glyphosate is carcinogenic,” wrote Grace, according to Blacklock’s.
“Lawsuits of this kind are not for the faint of heart. As is clear from the experience in the United States so far glyphosate litigation has been hard fought. That applies to this action too.”
Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has authorized the sale of Roundup in Canada since 1976, with annual usage estimated at 25 million kilograms. The agency has defended its approval, noting that levels of human exposure are significantly lower than any harmful threshold.
Connie Moase, the agency’s director of health evaluations, assured the public in 2019 that their review was comprehensive and left no stone unturned. Despite objections from environmental groups, the agency reaffirmed the herbicide’s approval in 2017, maintaining that no global regulatory authority currently deems glyphosate a cancer risk at levels humans typically encounter.
Monsanto Canada, in its defence, has presented an affidavit from Dr. Leonard Ritter, a former Department of Health researcher, stating that regulatory testing ensures human exposure is at least 100 times lower than the level found to cause no adverse health effects in lab testing.
