Pesticide-maker fiddles; officials burn

Published December 2, 2009

When Dow Agrosciences filed a NAFTA lawsuit against the Government of Canada in March of this year, it seemed the government was in for a battle. Dow complained that a Quebec ban on the use of cosmetic lawn pesticides harmed the company's bottom line and breached NAFTA protections owed to US investors.

The arbitration lawsuit put Canada's trade department on high alert as lawyers geared up to defend Quebec's actions before an international...