Guelph Civic League
Voter turnout 2003: 36% - Our goal for 2006: over 50%
Key Topics:
- City Budget
- City of Guelph Communications Review 2009
- Hanlon Creek Business Park
- TaxChat
- Heritage Conservation
- Leadership
- Wards and Neighbourhoods
- City Planning
- Wet-Dry System
- Contact Us
Search:
Better Ways
July 19, 2006
More Cities Ban Pesticides
In June, the city of Newmarket became the second municipality in the Greater Toronto area to ban cosmetic pesticide use on lawns and gardens. The measure was passed unanimously 9-0 by the Newmarket city council. Angry lawn care company owners left the meeting in protest before the vote. The lawn care industry aggressively fought the Newmarket bylaw with a phone campaign warning residents of the proposed prohibition. Supporters of the ban told council that health studies clearly show that pesticides pose a serious risk to public health and should be prohibited. Said Councillor Joe Sponga to fellow councillors: “I am doing this because I want to give my children - your children - a healthy, pesticide-free life."
Toronto: Homeowners will be fined in 2007
In the City of Toronto, there is a sweeping ban on the use of cosmetic pesticides on private property. Lawn care companies face $255 fines if they use banned products such as herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. Starting in September 2007, homeowners can also be fined for breaking the bylaw. The lawn care industry appealed the Toronto ban to the Supreme Court, but lost.
London: 74% of Citizens in Favour of Ban
On June 12, 2006, city council in London, Ontario voted 13-6 in favor becoming the 117th municipality in Canada to adopt a pesticide bylaw restricting non-essential use on lawns and gardens. Councillors refused to endorse an all-out ban, but only exempted sports fields and lawn bowling greens. The bylaw takes effect in September 2008, giving the lawn-care industry and residents three growing seasons to adjust. Council's vote for such a broad ban was clearly affected by a local poll conducted jointly by the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. It was found that 74 per cent of Londoners favoured phasing out pesticides.
Canada's Supreme Court: Precautionary Principle
The number of pesticide bans in Canadian municipalities has grown since June 28, 2001 when the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed a challenge by two large lawn care companies, Chemlawn and Spraytech, against the Town of Hudson, Quebec. In a unanimous judgement, Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dube wrote for the court, “It is reasonable to conclude that the town bylaw’s purpose is to minimize the use of allegedly harmful pesticides in order to promote the health of its inhabitants." She also stated, “Permitting the town to regulate pesticide use is consistent with international law’s ‘precautionary principle,’ which states it is better to be overly cautious than to create a potential risk to the environment.” The judges noted that Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Northwest Territories, and Yukon all have similar provisions enabling their municipalities to make such bylaws.
Physicians Link Pesticides To Cancer
On April 25, 2006, the journal Paediatrics and Child Health issued a report from a study claiming that 2,4-D, the most commonly used weed killer on Canadian lawns and gardens is “persuasively linked” to cancer, neurological impairment, and reproductive problems. The report in contradicted a recent re-assessment of 2,4-D by the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency, which found it does not cause cancer and can be used safely on lawns if directions are followed. (In June of 2006, the federal agency's relationship with the pesticide industry was questioned in a Globe and Mail investigative report involving the circulation of an internal document concerning the safety of 2,4-D.)
In April of 2004, The Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP), which represents more than 6,700 family physicians in Ontario, completed Canada’s most comprehensive review on pesticides. Their findings: there are consistent links between pesticides and serious illnesses such as cancer, reproductive problems, and neurological diseases. Children are particularly vulnerable to pesticides. More than 50 million kilograms of pesticides are still used in Canada each year.
Pesticide Reductions In Guelph:
The Quarrie Council Fails To Act
The current city council in Guelph has not acted on pesticide reductions. The issue has been ignored, despite council's approval of a bylaw in March of 2005 that would restrict pesticide application on residential, commercial, and industrial land under certain climatic conditions, especially smog days when spraying is even more of a health threat. Council also agreed to consider a pesticide advisory group for a two-year term and to fund up to $60,000 for a program to educate citizens about reducing pesticide use and exposure. None of these measures has been taken.
This past April, a group of 18 local family doctors petitioned city council to give final approval to the bylaw. The physicians are concerned about the lack of progress, citing the Ontario College of Family Physician's report, which makes Guelph's policy on pesticides a concern for all family doctors. “Council promised to put through these minimal safeguards,” said Dr. Lori Hasulo. “We just feel it’s an issue of accountability.”
Oxanna Adams, a local anti-pesticide activist, said this in a letter to the Guelph Mercury on April 7, 2006:
"Unfortunately, I believe that the majority of council (not including councillors Cathy Downer, Lise Burcher and Maggie Laidlaw, who have always been strong bylaw supporters) still do not consider the use of lawn care pesticides to be a health issue, despite mounting scientific evidence to the contrary."
In another letter to the Mercury, on April 12, Timothy MacDonell of Guelph wrote:
"For over a decade, the tireless efforts of Guelph’s Pesticide Action Coalition to educate the public, collect data and petition city council for bylaws to safeguard children, pregnant women, men and pets from the hazards of chemical pesticide use went virtually unheard... As a result of the inaction by city council to write a bylaw, nothing has been enacted. This year is election year and I am expecting no decisive action will be taken by council on this contentious issue."
The Guelph Mercury itself called for long-awaited action by council in this April editorial.
What you can doGo to www.pesticidefree.ca, the best site for background information on pesticide bans and restrictions in Canada and other countries. Understand the importance of restricting these dangerous synthetic toxins.
Membership
Tell a friend there are Better Ways…
Have time? Volunteer!
Email us to find out what you can do to help Guelph.