Mary Lou McDonald et al v. Attorney General of Canada Reference : T-277-19 // A-85-20 Complaint date : February 11, 2019 Status : Provisional judgment Place of jurisdiction : Canada, Ottawa Plaintiffs types : Health/Food groups, Individuals Plaintiffs names : Mary Lou McDonald, Safe Food Matters Inc., David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence Canada, Friends of the Earth Canada Defendants : Attorney General of Canada Lawyers for Health and Environmental Justice : Andrea Gonsalves, Laura Bowman Case nature : Administrative Specificities : Application for judicial review Type(s), Product(s), Active substance(s) : Glyphosate, Herbicide Requests : A judicial review of the rejection of the plaintiffs' Notice of Objection under the Review Panel Regulations. Name of the Court : Federal Court of Appeal of Ottawa, Canada Jurisdiction level : No description Decision date : February 13, 2020 Decision nature : Positive Decision content : This application for judicial review is hereby dismissed, but the decision is reversed in appeal. Legal basis : Court Ruling : Link to the ruling Summary : The Applicants submitted a notice of objection to the decision of PMRA to allow glyphosate to be registered for another 15 or more years in Canada. The NOO raised various objections, including that PMRA (Pest Management Regulatory Agency) did not look at the risks associated with pre-harvest use/ desiccation on non conventional, indeterminate crops like chickpeas, and asked that a review panel of independent scientists be established, as allowed under the Pest Control Products Act. Eight NOOs by various groups were filed in mid-2017, but all were rejected on Jan.11, 2019. PMRA (Pest Management Regulatory Agency) refused the review panel request, and on Feb. 11, 2019, the Applicants asked the Federal Court of Toronto for judicial review of the refusal under the Review Panel Regulations, arguing they had raised a scientifically founded doubt about the validity of the evaluations of health and environmental risks and value of the product. The Federal Court denied the request on Feb. 13, 2020, indicating the test for scientifically founded doubt had not been met. Appeal was filed on March 13, 2020 at the Federal Court of Appeal. The David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence Canada and Friends of the Earth Canada, represented by Ecojustice, are interveners in the Federal Court appeal. On Feb. 2, 2022, the court issues its decision in favor of Safe Food Matters, which remits the matter back to the PMRA for reconsideration, and offers strong guidance to PMRA to avoid “the endless merry-go-round” of court applications and reconsiderations. Scientific references : No scientifice reference for this case. Related links : Decision of the federal court, February 13, 2020 Safe Food Matters appeal information document Press release, Safe Food Matters (2019) : "Summary of Health Canada Court Case: glyphosate" Press release, Safe Food Matters (2020) : "Federal court releases its decision" Press release, Safe Food Matters (2020) : "Safe Food Matters appeals decision" Press article, Saltwire (2020) : "It's time that Canada stopped registering glyphosate, Ecojustice lawyer says" Press release, Ecojustice (2020): "Environmental groups enter legal challenge of glyphosate approval in Canada" Press release, Safe Food Matters (2022): "Safe Food Matters wins glyphosate court case!" Press article, National observer (2022) : "Federal Court of Appeal tells Canada’s pesticide regulator to reconsider public objections on glyphosate"