A Chemical Reaction, is a documentary movie that tells the story of one of the most powerful and effective community initiatives in the history of North America. It started with one lone voice in 1984. Dr. June Irwin, a dermatologist, noticed a connection between her patients' health conditions and their exposure to chemical pesticides and herbicides. With relentless persistence she brought her concerns to town meetings to warn her fellow citizens that the chemicals they were putting on their lawns posed severe health risks and had unknown side effects on the environment.
Hudson, Quebec passed Canada's first municipal by-law banning the use of cosmetic pesticides, and set in motion a series of events that saw hundreds of municipalities follow suit, including large cities such as Toronto, then the entire provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The film documents Hudson's resistance to the chemical industry's attack on their bylaw - and how the town eventually won at the Supreme Court of Canada. Check out the website for this award-winning documentary: http://www.pfzmedia.com/#/images/stories/screen/small/HomeDepot3.jpg
Join the Children's Health & Environment Partnership of Manitoba (CHEP) for the Winnipeg premiere of A Chemical Reaction at the Manitoba Eco-Network's Reel Green Film Festival. It's showing at 1:00pm on Saturday, March 13 in the Theatre at Red River College's Downtown Campus (William and Princess St). Ian Greaves from CHEP's partner Campaign for Pesticide Reduction! Winnipeg will introduce the film and lead a discussion on its relevance to the bid for a pesticide bylaw in Winnipeg.
