Angry in the Great White North

Recall that senior Liberal Party strategist John Duffy was revealed to be a key lobbyist for the bromine industry. Bromines are considered by many environmental scientists to be worse that chlorine in terms of impact on the atmosphere, and compounds that use bromines, such as PBDEs, are persistent in the environment, much in the same way as PCBs are.

The bromine industry, of course, was working hard to avoid an outright ban on the sale and use of bromine compounds, and John Duffy seemed all too happy to help them. So what happened while the Liberals were in power, and then when the Conservatives took over?

Consider this timeline:

1999 to 2002:

Starting in 1999, and ending in 2002, Health Canada ran a project, Impact of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers on Canadian Environment and Health of Canadians, and came to this conclusion:

Global use of flame retardants has more than tripled in the past 20 years. Environmentally persistent polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are the second largest group of these chemicals. PBDEs have been found in sediments, shellfish, fish, sea birds and mammals in Europe and Japan, and in human tissues in the US. High levels of PBDEs may affect the nervous system and thyroid hormone levels in animals. Little is known about PBDEs in Canada.

Levels of PBDEs in sediments, animals and humans are on the rise in Canada. During the past 20 years levels of PBDEs in the Canadian environment have increased, accordingly, 100Xs to 1000Xs in lake trout of the Great Lakes, 10Xs to 100Xs in water birds, 10Xs in arctic mammals, 100Xs in breast milk, and > 1000Xs in belugas of the St. Lawrence. PBDE levels are greatest in top predatory fish and fish-eating wildlife in aquatic food webs. The relative Canadian daily dietary intake of 3 major groups of POPs was PCBs >PBDEs> dioxins. Levels of PBDEs in Canadian breast milk samples ranged from 19 ppb in the Maritimes to 2.6 ppb in Ontario. A commercial mixture of PBDEs affected tail reduction in exposed tadpoles suggesting that thyroid activity was disrupted. Tadpoles fed excessive levels of BDE-71or dieldrin in food showed the same response. Other BDEs had no effect in fish and tadpoles. Research is ongoing. PBDEs bind less strongly than dioxin to the cell site involved in the breakdown of organic chemicals. PBDEs have low volatility. BDE-209 in sediment of Lake Ontario were high. BDE-209 was not found in arctic lakes.

In summary PBDEs are ubiquitous anthropogenic contaminants, which have been detected in numerous environmental matrices across Canada. Temporal trend studies indicated that the concentrations of these compounds are on the rise in the Canadian environment. Toxicity data indicate potential for thyroid hormone effects. The combination of rising concentrations of PBDEs with evidence for potential thyroid hormone effects is cause for concern.

2004 (February):

Environment Canada issues an official recommendation to eliminate PBDEs:

It is proposed that PBDEs, including tetraBDE, pentaBDE, hexaBDE, heptaBDE, octaBDE, nonaBDE and decaBDE, which are found in commercial PeBDE, OBDE and DBDE, be considered “toxic” as defined in section 64 of CEPA 1999.

It is proposed that consideration be given to adding tetraBDE, pentaBDE, and hexaBDE, which are found in commercial PeBDE and OBDE, to the Virtual Elimination List under CEPA 1999 and that PBDEs, including tetraBDE, pentaBDE, hexaBDE, heptaBDE, octaBDE, nonaBDE and decaBDE, which are found in commercial PeBDE, OBDE and DBDE, be considered as Track 1 substances under the Toxic Substances Management Policy.

2004 (July):

Stephane Dion becomes Minister of the Environment.

2004 (September):

On September 3, the David Suzuki Foundation issues a press release demanding that PBDEs be banned.

On September 20, John Duffy begins lobbying for the bromine industry.

At this point, the issue of PBDEs seems to have entirely disappeared from the official radar despite alarming articles printed in the press.

2005 (January)

The Walrus Magazine prints the story "Everyday Poisons". In this article, Paul Webster makes a direct link between the lack of action by Environment Minister Stephane Dion and the lobbying by the bromine interests:

Slowly — tragically, too slowly — politicians are starting to heed the mounting evidence to support claims that the flame-retardant chemicals swirling invisibly through our homes can cause neurological damage in children and impair hormone production in adults. According to some of the latest studies, even minute doses of brominated fire retardants impair attention, learning, memory, and behaviour in laboratory animals.

Scientists at Environment Canada and Health Canada are so concerned that in May they recommended that the federal government remove octa-bde and penta-bde, two of three types of pbde formulations, from the market. The European Union, California, and in August New York State, have banned the two formulas. But there was no mention of pbdes in October’s Speech from the Throne, in which the Liberal government outlined their environmental initiatives. So far, Canadian politicians seem more interested in talking to the pbde-industry lobby than in taking immediate action to end what some researchers believe could become one of the worst toxic-contamination disasters in history.

Government scientists made their results known when they recommended the government move to restrict the use of two pbde mixtures, largely used in polyurethane foams and rigid plastics in consumer appliances. And they suggested more research be done on the third mixture, known as deca-bde, just as production of deca-bde is being ramped up around the world in response to the bans against penta-bde and octa-bde.

Even so, in the face of a stiff industry lobby, no one is sure when, or if, Environment Minister Stephane Dion will move to implement the advice of his own scientists and ban the penta-bde and octa-bde formulations from the market, let alone sharply limit the use of deca-bde.

2005 (February)

The Globe and Mail and CTV News publishes this report on February 14:

Common foods laced with chemical

Everyday foods consumed by Canadians — such as salmon, ground beef, cheese and butter — are laced with chemical flame retardants, according to research commissioned by The Globe and Mail and CTV News. In fact, the research found that Canadian foods are among the most contaminated with polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the world, with levels up to 1,000 times higher than those found in tests in European countries.

As far as I can tell, for the next year, as per Paul Webster's prediction, no action is taken before Paul Martin's government falls.

2006 (February):

Conservatives defeat the Liberals and form a new minority government. Stephane Dion is replaced by Rona Ambrose as Minister of the Environment.

2006 (May):

Liberal MP Susan Kadis introduces private member's bill C-274 to add PBDEs to the toxic substances list. Liberal MP Maria Minna introduces a similar bill (C-298).

2006 (June):

MP Minna is interviewed by the Hill Times. When asked why PBDEs weren't banned by the Liberal government, she replied:

Ms. Minna said the regulatory process -- which observers say can become bogged down in consultations -- is slow. "I, quite frankly, think we need to change the regulatory system to make it easier and a little faster, so that these kinds of changes can be made fairly quickly," Ms. Minna said. She said that she hopes to see committee's current review of CEPA come up with a streamlined way to ban substances through regulations. "I think that maybe we should take a look at the regulatory system as we review CEPA, and really change the onerous time that it takes to designate substances. Other countries are doing it much faster," Ms. Minna said. "In the meantime we should pass this through the House of Commons. Let's do it now," she said of the bill she introduced.

Added John Moffet, director general at the Department of the Environment:

The issue is really one of political will, he said. "Why haven't we? Fundamentally? I would argue that those are political decisions. On the issue of federal leadership, the act gives us the authority to address a wide range of issues, the extent to which we've chosen to exercise that authority, has been and will continue to be a political decision," Mr. Moffet said. Mr. Moffet said stakeholder consultations on banning substances can become "circular" and slow the process down. "Nothing in CEPA impedes the minister from saying, 'I don't care what that process says, this is the decision,'" he said.

2006 (October):

The David Suzuki Foundation issues a report criticizing the current government's proposed approach to the PBDE issue. No governments or ministers are named, and there is one numerically indeterminate reference to "years of delay".

2006 (November):

John Duffy registers the ClimateLiberal.ca website.

2006 (December):

One December 2, Stephane Dion becomes leader of the Liberal Party, and vows to make the environment the number one issue in Canada.

On December 16, over two years after the recommendation is made, PBDEs are finally placed on the list:

No person shall manufacture any polybrominated diphenyl ether referred to in section 1 or any of the following products containing a polybrominated diphenyl ether set out in the schedule: resins, polymers or mixtures.

(1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall use, sell, offer for sale or import a polybrominated diphenyl ether set out in the schedule or any of the following products containing such a substance: resins, polymers or mixtures.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to

(a) any polybrominated diphenyl ether that is present as a contaminant in a chemical feedstock used in a process from which there are no releases of the polybrominated diphenyl ether and provided that the polybrominated diphenyl ether is destroyed or completely converted in that process to a substance that is not a polybrominated diphenyl ether; or

(b) any polybrominated diphenyl ether or the following products containing such a substance and intended to be disposed of or recycled: resins, polymers or mixtures.

2007 (January):

John Duffy's contract as a lobbyist for the bromine industry is terminated on January 2.

2007 (February):

On February 1, Stephane Dion tables a motion demanding that the Conservative government reaffirm Canada's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol.

On February 19, the David Suzuki Foundation issues a press release, complaining that the PBDE ban has too many loopholes, and accuses Stephen Harper's Conservative government of not taking serious action on PBDEs:

"The Harper Government prides itself on taking real action to protect Canadians from toxic chemicals that are increasingly making their way into our daily lives," said Kathleen Cooper, Senior Researcher with the Canadian Environmental Law Association. " But, by not comprehensively banning all PBDEs, notably the decaBDEs, the Harper government is regulating the status quo, essentially avoiding the most serious aspects of this problem and giving the Canadian public a mistaken impression of action."

Interesting timeline, I think. Draw what conclusions you will from it.