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Concerns raised after dozens of Canadians planted unsolicited seeds that unexpectedly arrived at their door – CTV Toronto

Published

4 years ago

February 10, 2021

CALGARY —
Packets of seeds have been arriving on the doorsteps of some Canadians without explanation and a few of the recipients have, to the concern of government officials, planted their contents.

Documents obtained through a federal access to information and privacy (ATIP) request files by CTV Calgary detail how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) tasked inspectors across the country with tracking down the seed recipients, and ensuring the seeds were destroyed.

The 825 pages of spreadsheets and emails document a countrywide, systematic attempt to round up and destroy the seeds, with CFIA officers either collecting the seeds for disposal, or advising seed recipients to destroy them, usually through incineration.

The vast majority of people who contacted the CFIA had not planted the seeds, but the documents list dozens of cases where the seeds were planted, and had sprouted, by the time CFIA inspectors were contacted.

In one entry, Walkerton, Ontario-based inspector Peter Coleman wrote:

‘Homeowner had ordered Bonzai tree through Amazon pre-pandemic, a month after the company contacted her saying they couldn’t fill her order because of covid then these seeds showed up a month after that. She planted them in pots thinking that maybe they were the seeds she had ordered. Only 1 seeding is growing in pot after approximately 1 month. She said she saw lots of ‘small centipedes’ in the soil. Pots, soil and leftover seeds were collected. Soil is being run in the Berlese Funnel”

A Berlese funnel is a device used to extract insects from soil samples.

CTV asked the CFIA for details regarding what was discovered in the samples of soil, seeds, and plant material collected.

“We have no further information than what is contained in our last update (Aug 6, 2020) on the issue,” said a CFIA public affairs spokesperson/

That update does not address the results of the soil testing but does say “The seeds are from a range of plant species, including tomato, strawberry, rose and citrus, as well as some weed seeds that are common in Canada (for example, shepherd’s purse and flixweed).”

Based on visual inspections carried out to date, the seeds appear to be low-risk, however Canadians are being cautioned to not plant these seeds from unknown origins.”

However the documents also note Toronto-based CFIA inspector Shawn Slack writing “Seeds were not basil. It is poison ivy and is native to Australia and is invasive. She (the seed recipient) already planted the seeds and it started growing.”

Planting of foreign invasive species could have dire consequences according to Olds College plant scientist Christine Fulkerth

“Weeds are competing for the same resources as our crop plants, for light and nutrients and moisture, And if they’re competing for that same resource, which is quite limited especially in our prairie agricultural system, we have to be careful of that.”

While the seeds being documented by the CFIA were, for the most part, not ordered by the recipients Fulkerth warns even seeds purchased from outside the country, or in some cases outside the province you live in, could potentially cause problems.

“Even if you’re buying like a wildflower mix, for instance, make sure you read what’s in it,” cautioned Fulketh. “And, if they don’t list the actual species, I would maybe look at another source of plant material. Every province has their own set of rules on the weed side of things, and even (seeds) coming in from the U.S. as well.”

In almost every case. seed recipients who contacted the CFIA identified the seeds as coming from Asia, predominantly from China, Taiwan, and Malaysia. The two companies cited most frequently as deliverers of the seeds were the online retailers Amazon and Wish.

The CFIA says the seed deliveries were quite likely a ‘brushing scam’, in which an online retailer tries to boost online sales by sending unrequested products to customers and posting fake positive reviews.

The CFIA documents reveal that the seeds were frequently mislabelled as beads or jewellery.

While recipients were not billed for the packages the Better Business Bureau (BBB) says people who are caught in a brushing scam should be on guard.

“It means that somebody else has your data, so they can be using your username, your password, whatever you might have stored in there, as well, they might have your credit card information,” said Mary O’Sullivan-Andersen, Calgary BBB president and CEO. “So sometimes you might receive a package and they’ve actually charged somebody else for it. Other times, it could be small charges that you haven’t even noticed on your credit cards.”

The foreign seed deliveries began in the late spring of 2020, just as Canadians started planting in earnest, depleting local seed supplies in many garden centres. Those shortages led many people to order seeds online and may have masked the scope of the unordered foreign seed deliveries.

Seed suppliers are already reporting heightened sales leading up to the 2021 planting season.

The CFIA says it is working with the Canada Border Services Agency and Canada Post, as well as its international partners, to identify and stop the flow of unsolicited seeds into Canada.

It continues to recommend that unknown seeds be sealed in a second bag, and reported to the local CFIA office. Additionally it says anyone ordering seeds online should check out Canada’s plant import requirements when buying and selling online.

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Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

—

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Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

___

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Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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