Quebec teen honoured by UN agency
In what began as a ''one-kid campaign'', he organized a children's protest against the heavy use of pesticides on golf-course fairways in his Ile Bizzard hometown.
Click Here to Add Comment
Previous Current Articles Next
Subject: Quebec teen honoured by UN agency........
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2001 12:14:36 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read the following article:
Jun. 5, 07:05 EDT Quebec teen honoured by UN agency Leukemia victim was 10 when he began lobbying against pesticide use NAIROBI (CP) - A Quebec teen whose efforts prompted many Canadian municipalities to ban pesticides has been honoured by the UN Environment Program.
Jean-Dominic Levesque-Rene, 17, took up the cause seven years ago when he began treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that affects the immune system.
''During my first round of chemotherapy, I recalled that when I was a toddler I was always sick when my parents sprayed our lawn with herbicides and insecticides,'' Levesque-Rene said in a statement Tuesday.
In what began as a ''one-kid campaign'', he organized a children's protest against the heavy use of pesticides on golf-course fairways in his Ile Bizzard hometown.
Golf courses occupy about half the land mass on the Montreal-area island. The town council agreed to ban pesticides after a 1998 study found local children's cancer rate was four times higher than the Quebec norm.
The tribute to Levesque-Rene came on World Environment Day, as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched a $21-million four-year study of the health of planet Earth.
The study ''is designed to bring the world's best science to bear on the present choices we face in managing the global environment,'' Annan told reporters in New York.
Levesque-Rene, one of 18 individuals named this year to the UN agency's roll of honour, has lobbied governments across Canada through speeches and letters. In May 2000, a Commons committee called for a ban on pesticides used for cosmetic purposes.
''My dream is that there will be a pesticide-free planet,'' Levesque-Rene said. ''Humans have a choice, there are alternatives. ''
He said natural-product alternatives - baking soda, garlic or vinegar, for example - are ''safe for humans and the environment.''
Well Mr. Helliker, even thought these pest control alternatives are ''safe for humans and the environment'', I believe these safe unregistered alternatives are (in your opinion) still "illegal" for the California farmers and pest control professionals to use. Why do you continue to insist that our farmers and pest control people may "legally" only apply your "registered" POISONS to "control" pest problems? Why do you continue to try to prevent local communities from developing notification policies that would help prevent the terrible harm your "registered" POISONS have done to this Quebec teen who "was always sick when my parents sprayed our lawn with herbicides and insecticides''? Albert Einstein once noted: "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. "How many more innocents must become ill before you will "legally" allow the use of safe and far more effective alternatives?
Respectfully,Stephen L. Tvedten
If you would like to be included in our mailing list for continuing information on pesticides, Email Us. with "subscribe" in the subject line.