Health Canada announces members of the new Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products

Jun 28, 2022

he Government of Canada takes pesticide safety very seriously, and it is working to ensure an open and inclusive process in the areas of safety, transparency and sustainability. Today, Health Canada, officially named the nine members of the recently formed Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products (SAC-PCP).

The nomination process for the committee launched in January 2022 and closed in March 2022. The committee will act as in an advisory role to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). Members will provide expert, independent scientific advice to support Health Canada in evidence-based decision making on pesticides to better protect human health, wildlife and the environment.

The SAC-PCP members are:

Dr. Maricor Arlos, University of Alberta
Dr. Stéphane Bayen, McGill University
Dr. Kyle Bobiwash, University of Manitoba
Dr. Valérie Langlois, Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Eau Terre Environnement Research Centre
Dr. Bruce Lanphear, Simon Fraser University
Dr. Eric Liberda, Toronto Metropolitan University
Dr. Christy A. Morrissey, University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Sean Prager, University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Xianming Zhang, Concordia University

Health Canada's nomination criteria requested a wide range of relevant knowledge and experience in the areas of pesticide use in Canada, environmental fate and modelling, health and environmental risk assessment, food and workplace exposure, pesticide value assessment, and Indigenous knowledge of pesticides and traditional land use. The SAC-PCP members are representative of the diverse regional and linguistic communities in Canada.

In addition to the nine members, the SAC-PCP will benefit from a community of specialized experts to provide supplementary scientific expertise as needed. This will ensure that the Committee remains current depending on its evolving needs. This could include additional sectoral expertise in sectors such as agriculture and forestry, or expertise in other specific scientific areas. Health Canada intends to maintain this membership evergreen to ensure that required independent advice is available at any time.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.