Josette Wier
The Eco Activist profile of Josette Wier
Dr. Josette Wier, a doctor and an activist against pesticides, was born in France. She is now 74 years old. She has a 120 Acre parcel of land in Smithers, northern BC. She has been battling pesticide use in Canada, as an activist and a litigator, since the year 2000. She took the provincial Government followed up by taking the Federal Govt to court for practice of injecting arsenic based pesticide into hundreds of thousands of BC forest trees to fight the pine beetle attack, and for spraying RoundUp by the logging corporations. After several years of court battle , she eventually won both her cases, and the practice was halted.
Note: She won the battle, British Columbia lost the war, Dr. Josette Wier can take a lot of the credit for the damage done by the pine beetle.
“The mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic in British Columbia (BC) peaked in 2004 and 2005, and by 2012, >53 per cent of the merchantable pine had been attacked. The annual kill has declined steadily since 2005 and is projected to continue to do so. However, given the significant amount of beetle killed wood, the timber supply is expected to fall dramatically in the coming decades. This study estimates the future provincial economic impacts of the MPB infestation in a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, by examining the effects of the reduction in timber supply from BC forests over the 2009–2054 period. Results suggest that there will be a cumulative present value loss of $57.37 billion (or 1.34 per cent) in GDP and a $90 billion decline in welfare (compensating variation) from 2009 to 2054 in BC.”
Also read Medical concerns or underhanded environmentalism?
- Her live in partner is David Bowering former Former Chief Medical Health Officer at Northern Health Authority, Also see his anti pipeline activity. Also his support for blockaders illegally holding the Morice Road as ransom to stop CGL.
- “ legal challenge, recently filed by Josette Weir and Sierra Club BC, asks for a judicial review of the government’s actions in June” trying to shut down the Site C dam. Working side by side with the elitist (independently wealthy environmentalists) and Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (rich lawyers working for environmentalists)
- Josette Wier, 57, runs an elegant B&B in the rural Smithers home she shares with her husband Peter, a retired pilot. When not working, canoeing or skiing, she’s often in her home office—where her one-woman campaign has made her the worst nightmare of government and industry forest managers who wish she, and others concerned about an arsenic-based pesticide used against the mountain pine beetle, would just go away. (old article from 2005)
- OPEN LETTER: Indigenous Leaders, Doctors, Nurses And Others Call For Closure Of Construction Camps
- Blue Pearl Mining Limited (Proponent) proposed to develop an underground molybdenum mine on Hudson Bay Mountain near Smithers, with an anticipated production of 2000 tonnes per day with a mine life expectancy of 10 years.The proposal was withdrawn in June 2013.
- Josette Weir believes the Imperial Metals presentation in Smithers was shamefully biased.
- Northern Gateway “Josette Wier, who describes herself as “an independent not funded intervenor in the hearing process,”
- Josette Weir Pesticide Review Failure 2013: Special Review of Glyphosate Herbicides Containing Polyethoxylated Tallowamine “The applicant, Josette Wier, did not file an affidavit or attend the hearings. In response to a question from the Court as to the identity of the applicant, counsel for the applicant stated that Josette Wier was an “environmental researcher” in Smithers, BC (a town in north-central British Columbia). The applicant was a medical doctor in France but is not qualified to practice medicine in Canada.”
- Makes a commercial for West Coast Environmental Law (July 17, 2018) condemning the environmental assessment process in British Columbia
- Wier’s legal challenge, brought by Vancouver-lawyer, Jason Gratl, and funded by West Coast Environmental Law and the Driftwood Foundation
The information posted below is from a now shut down website called <pesticidetruths.com>
Josette Wier – Environmental Activist
Petions Office of the Auditor General on Pesticide MSMA in 2003 and was representing Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).
This woman is very busy. She has been trying to push her beliefs on people for a very long time.
Some of her Activism is included below.
Office of the Auditor General of Canada
Toxicity of the arsenic-based pesticide MonosodiumMethane Arsenate (MSMA)
Petition: No. 97
Issue(s): Human health/environmental health, pesticides, and toxic substances
Petitioner(s): Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)
Date Received: 5 November 2003
Status: Completed
Summary: In this petition, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) expresses concernabout the arsenic-based pesticide MSMA, which is used by the forestry industry to control bark beetle. The petitionerasserts that there are new scientific findings on the toxicity of arsenic that need to be considered by the PestManagement Regulatory Agency of Health Canada. Several questions are posed in this petition about MSMA,including questions on re-registration, environmental effects, and human exposure.
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Attention: Petitions
Aug 25, 2003
We are submitting a petition under the Auditor General Act, to the Hon. Anne McLellan, Minister of Health, as follows.
From: The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)
Since July 13, 2001, Dr. Josette Wier, a pediatrician originally trained in France and a member of the CanadianAssociation of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), has repeatedly brought to the attention of the PesticideManagement Regulatory Agency (PMRA) her concerns about an application for a permit to use the arsenical pesticideMSMA (Monosodium Methane Arsenate). The BC Ministry of Forests (Morice Forest District) was the applicant forthe use of 3,300 kg of arsenic (active ingredient, in the form of MSMA) over a three-year period to “control” barkbeetle. Dr. Wier has specifically pointed out that research from the last 3-5 years shows that the assumptions uponwhich the safety of the product was established no longer hold. This is based on general research and especially onextensive communications from Dr. W.R. Cullen, professor of chemistry at UBC and a world authority on arsenictoxicity. She has repeatedly encouraged the PMRA to get in touch with Dr. Cullen and has forwarded to the PMRAcopies of relevant documentation and research materials.
Health Canada has reviewed Environmental Petition no. 97 and developed detailed responses to the 17 questions posed in the petition. The questions and their associated responses are provided below. [See link for full letter]
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Question 1: |
At what point does a persistent inquiry from a concerned and well-informed citizen on an issue with significant health implications generate a substantive response from the Minister’s office? |
Response 1:
In striving to improve the health of all of Canada’s people, while respecting individual choices and circumstances, the Minister of Health has always maintained and will continue to maintain an open and transparent office for Canadians to voice their concerns. Accordingly, all inquires, whether to the Minister or the Department, are taken seriously and are responded to in as substantive a manner as possible.
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Question 2: |
Does the Minister routinely, and without independent analysis, endorse the PMRA’s position that new scientific findings do not challenge the safety of a currently registered pesticide? If not, how is an independent analysis triggered? |
Response 2:
The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has been mandated by the Minister of Health to administer the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) and to exercise sound scientific judgment. The officials who are employed to carry out that mandate have the scientific expertise to exercise such judgment and provide the Minister with sound advice on which he can and does rely.
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/pet_097_e_28812.html
Email from :
Josette Weir to the Environmental Assessment Office submitting her concerns and comments regarding the Tulsequah Mining Project. http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/epic/documents/p72/1036697190812_ea7ab621f3c04b35a731b7e34443029e.pdf
The Tulsequah Chief project is located on the Tulsequah River in northwestern British Columbia. The property is located 100 kilometres south of the town of Atlin, BC.
Tulsequah Chief’s capital requirement is estimated at Can$ 201.5 M., with a probable reserve of 5.4 M tonnes.
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IPS Stumps across B.C.
Last January in the heart of winter three directors, of Islands Protection Society (IPS) Jack Miller, Josette Weir and Tom Schneider toured the interior of B.C. with a slide-show presentation on South Moresby.
Hosted by different environment groups and naturalist clubs they presented 15 shows. The slides included some of the best pictures from the soon to be published book, Islands at the Edge, taken from the pool of 10,000 donated for use in the book.
People of all social and political backgrounds pledged their support for the preservation of South Moresby. The tour was totally funded by generous donations from people along the way, the IPS directors donated their time. “It put us in touch with a very strong desire from the people of B.C. towards preserving places with special features like South Moresby. It made us personally aware, as we crossed the Rockies through Banff National Park, that South Moresby is just as important”, said Josette Weir. She also wanted to thank all the concerned friends and members who have helped so much and remind them that “the battle is never over till its won” and urge people to keep writing letters to government.
Addendum added Jan 29 2021
See in the comments section a reply from Imperial Metals. It is importunate for locals to know just how underhanded some Eco-radical environmentalists are.
Thank you for posting this, and referencing her letter to the editor of the Interior News: “Josette Weir believes the Imperial Metals presentation in Smithers was shamefully biased.” I was the Chief Scientific Officer and VP Environmental Affairs for Imperial Metals at the time and made that presentation she referred to. Josette did not attend my presentation, or the public lecture I gave in Smithers the night before. It is too bad that she did not take the opportunity to meet me and ask me questions as she unfortunately cites several pieces of incorrect information in her letter. It seems to me that it is often the case that accusations like this of “shameful bias” reflect the accuser’s attitude more than that of the person who has been accused.