Jim Irving

New Brunswick’s largest forestry company and its wealthy owners have urged members of the provincial legislature to not give in to what they call “misinformation” about the herbicide glyphosate. J.D. Irving co-CEO Jim Irving told a committee of MLAs that a ban on the product would curtail the company’s ability to maximize the output of its logging leases on Crown land. …Company officials told the MLAs that only 0.5 per cent of the forest sees tree planting and the spraying of herbicides in a given year. That makes those areas four times as productive for logging, which in turns makes it easier to set aside conservation areas. …But Irving faced tough questions from some members of the standing committee. Green Leader David Coon [said]… “You’ve done very well in New Brunswick,” suggesting that a wealthy company could afford the highest cost of growing and harvesting wood without herbicides.