[Sust-mar] Provincial Pesticide Ban - It's not over yet!

[Helen Jones]

Hi everyone,

The provincial ban on landscape pesticides under consideration would include
synthetic chemical insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides, and not affect
agricultural or forestry use. 

Although Bill 61 was passed May 11, 2010, the real trick will be in the
"regulations" that are being written this summer.  The committee overseeing
how the regulations will read is sure to be experiencing pressure from the
lawn care industry right now.  While enjoying summer, the public needs to
keep one cautious eye on this process so the resulting regulations are as
protective of public health as they should be.  

What we need:

* KEEP the right of NS municipalities to pass stronger pesticide bylaws (if
they chose to).  We need both provincial and municipal layers of protection
so they are more complete AND  less likely to be reversed by just a simple
change of government.

* AVOID the lawn care industry's favourite method of weakening bans:
Integrated Pest Management.  Their version of IPM discriminates against
small companies that can't afford annual IPM industry fees, and also lets
the sprayers use pesticides whenever they want to.

* BAN all mixtures of fertilizers and pesticides as Quebec has done.  These
mixtures lack federal Pest Control Product (PCP) numbers and so are
unregulated as pesticide products.  They include the bags of Weed n' Feed
(containing 2,4-D and dioxins) that fly off the shelves of the big box
stores, as well as many other toxic fertilizer/pesticide mixtures.

* INSIST the ban include -

Shrubs & trees (not just lawns), as well as patios, walkways, vegetable
gardens, golf courses, and soils near foundations and wells.

Commercial properties (along with residential and municipal properties).
HRM created a big loop hole by omitting commercial properties and so failed
to protect such sensitive areas as homes for the elderly, shopping malls,
condominiums, doctors' clinics and P3 schools.

* RESIST creating permit systems, especially for insecticides, which are
nerve and reproductive poisons, and are also linked to Parkinson's Disease,
ADHD and learning difficulties.

 

How you can help:  Phone or write the Premier (premier at gov.ns.ca) and MLAs.
Ask that the stranglehold on the provincial budget from skyrocketing health
care and Special Ed costs be reduced by bringing in strong regulations to
protect all Nova Scotia communities from the use and sale of cosmetic
landscape pesticides.  Ask them to give wheezy kids a breath of fresh air.

MLA emails:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/LEGISLATURE/members/directory/constituencies.html .
Committee contact: Solveig Madsen, madsensf at gov.ns.ca .

 

Thank you!

Hoping for great legislation,

 

Helen Jones 

 

Past Member: Pesticide Bylaw Advisory Committee for HRM 

Board Member, Real Alternatives to Toxins in the Environment (RATE) 

Past Member and Supporter: Pesticide Free Nova Scotia