The Ad Hoc Committee On Non-Essential Pesticide Reduction

Firstly, let me congratulate you for forming this committee and holding public meetings on this very controversial issue of the use of non-essential pesticides. This is a very bold move, just as it was for former city councillor Mark Lubosch to initiate public hearings which led to the toughest by-law in Canada on the issue of smoking in public places. While I expect that you will hear much information in the next 2 days giving the pros and cons of the use of pesticides, and you will be provided, I’m sure, with plenty of statistics - I am here to tell you my personal story and how I became involved with this issue.

Throughout my life I was a reasonably healthy person, suffering only from the odd cold and flu. In order to provide extra income for my family, I have been delivering newspapers at 4:00 a.m. for the past 16 years in the West End of Winnipeg. And while walking was healthy for me, the exposure to various forms of pesticides found on gardens and in the air (i.e. spraying of Malathion for mosquitoes) was not good for my health. Having no symptoms other than weight loss and fatigue, I was tested for various other health problems such as celiac disease. And accidentally, through the results of a CAT scan, I was told that I possibly had cancer which was quickly confirmed as non-Hodgkins lymphatic cancer - 4^th Stage (in my bone marrow). Now, if this had been any other kind of cancer, such as lung cancer, I likely wouldn’t be here speaking to you today.

As those of you who have had cancer or who know someone who has, the first stage after diagnosis is denial - why me? Once I entered treatment at the Grace Hospital under the direction of Dr. Pat Harris, I was given a very important lesson. Cancer is treatable, not curable. Once you have it, you live with it for the rest of your life. In fact, non-Hodgkins lymphatic cancer is the type of cancer that is most likely to recur within 3-5 years. 44% of all men and 39% of women will have some kind of cancer in their lifetime and, within 2-3 years cancer will replace heart and stroke as the #1 disease in Canada.

So, while many people die of cancer, many also survive it. During my 8 hours of chemotherapy every 3 weeks, I discovered people who were being treated for cancer the second or third time, defining cancer, now, as a chronic illness. Why is that important? Because of the cost of healthcare. If you die of cancer, as my friend just did at the age of 39, the only cost is the cost of a funeral. However, if people are being kept alive by treatment for cancer for long periods of time, the cost for this treatment is astronomical! For example, the drugs for my kind of cancer treatment cost a total $60,000 to provide me with 8 months of treatment! In fact, there are now even more effective drugs to treat my kind of cancer. However, the cost of these drugs is so prohibitive that the WRHA will not approve them in Manitoba.

Once I was in treatment I wanted to find out more about my type of cancer. In my research, I found some interesting facts which the medical profession isn’t going to admit to, directly. The nurses at CancerCare are the ones who not only do all of the ‘hands on’ work with patients, they were the ones who informed me that lymphatic cancer is directly linked to the use of pesticides. While I agree with those who say that an element of cancer is genetic in nature, there is clear linkage between my kind of cancer, as well as testicular cancer, to the use of pesticides. It is that knowledge that got me involved with the Cancer Brigade initiated by David Nickarz. We, for the first time, made the linkage between pesticides (i.e. Malathion), cancer and the astronomical health costs. In research done by Samuel Epstein, he indicated that in terms of the political and economic determinants of the cancer epidemic, cancer is 6 times as important among deadly diseases as it was a century ago.

The public (and of course the medical community who is making good money on trying to cure the disease after the damage is done) aren’t very open to hearing about prevention when it comes to cancer. The public is conditioned to think that they can’t do anything about it. That’s why I am here today to tell you my personal story and how we must seriously look at the direct or indirect linkage between certain types of cancer and the use of pesticides in our communities. You can’t tell me that walking 10 blocks outside, everyday for 16 years, breathing the air and walking through lawns sprayed with weed killer hasn’t contributed to my becoming ill with cancer! My cancer may be in remission, but I am continually being tested for any possible reoccurrence.

My partner and I attended a meeting at CancerCare for those who had Hodgkins and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In that meeting of about 60 people, doctors informed us that lymphoma is the 5^th fastest growing cancer per capita in Canada. Just imagine these 60 people being treated for cancer at $60,000 per person! As cancer continues to grow into an epidemic, it is almost unimaginable how much money the provincial government will be putting into treating this disease! Also, at that meeting, there were people with lymphoma who were farmers or who worked on farms where the use of pesticides is used on crops, again linking the use of pesticides to lymphoma.

It is time for politicians to learn that prevention costs far less than treatment. The medical community recognized that banning smoking in public places would decrease healthcare costs. Banning carcinogenic pesticides will have the same outcome.

Nick Ternette has been a community and political activist for over 40 years

and is a freelance writer and broadcaster.

Nick Ternette

158 Evanson Street

Winnipeg R3G 2A3

Ph: 775-9327

E-mail: eternett@shaw.ca

Website: www.ternette.com

References: http://manitobanature.ca/archives/MNS_jul06.pdf ; http://manitobanature.ca/archives/MNS_jul06.pdf#page=5 .