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Ottawa Allows Prairies Emergency Use of Strychnine Until 2027 for Gopher Issues
Health Canada approved emergency strychnine use to combat gopher damage causing millions in crop losses, with strict environmental safeguards until November 2027.
- On Monday, Health Canada authorized emergency use of strychnine in Alberta and Saskatchewan until November 2027 to manage gopher infestations, following a revised provincial request addressing environmental risks.
- The federal agency banned the toxin in 2024, citing risks to 'non-target organisms' like burrowing owls, though producers argued gophers cause millions of dollars in crop damage annually.
- Wade Nelson, a farmer near High River, Alta., who lost 170 acres to infestation, called the authorization "a great thing to have," while Agriculture Minister RJ Sigurdson praised it as practical.
- The approval includes strict measures to lower environmental risks "to an acceptable level," enabling producers to demonstrate safe, effective strychnine use while managing swelling ground squirrel populations.
- Producers hope to prove product safety to secure authorization beyond 2027, as Nelson expressed desire to avoid uncertainty of relying on limited tools for persistent agricultural pest management.
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22 Articles
22 Articles
The Toronto Star+10 Reposted by 10 other sources
Ottawa allows temporary use of gopher poison in Alberta, Saskatchewan
OTTAWA - Ottawa is temporarily allowing the return of the rodent poison strychnine in Alberta and Saskatchewan as those provinces grapple with gopher infestations.
·Toronto, Canada
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Ottawa authorizes emergency use of strychnine in Alberta, Saskatchewan to address gopher infestation
Ottawa is authorizing the controlled and time-limited emergency use of strychnine to address millions of dollars worth of damage in Alberta and Saskatchewan caused by an infestation of Richardson's ground squirrels, known colloquially as gophers.
·Canada
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Total News Sources22
Leaning Left10Leaning Right1Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution72% Left
Bias Distribution
- 72% of the sources lean Left
72% Left
L 72%
C 21%
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