By Kym Shumsky
Ottawa City Council has unanimously passed a motion requesting its staff to prepare a strategy to reduce the cosmetic use of pesticides – like insect management on lawns – on private property in the city, according to Centretown Coun. Elisabeth Arnold.
Coun. Arnold explains that the city has not decided to reduce or ban the use of pesticides on private property. Instead, city staff are being asked to come up with both a draft bylaw outlining the actual recommended action as to the use of cosmetic pesticides, as well as to commence public consultation and public education campaigns.
Coun. Arnold says the fact that there is no draft bylaw to present to the public may make consultation and education components more difficult. “Some of us, including myself, would like to see (a draft bylaw) sooner rather than later,” she says.
“I think it’s hard to consult with people on this issue without having something specific before them to propose. Then they can say they like this, they don’t like that – change this, change that,” she says.
Groups on both side of the bylaw – lawn care companies and environmental groups – have good things to say about the decision to pursue the question of using pesticides for cosmetic purposes.
Ben Shane, the general manager of Weed Man, says the public consultation element of the new strategy will give him the opportunity to “work with the city and educate the city staff as to the proper use of pest control products, when and where they’re required.”
Shane says he’s against a ban on pesticides, but is certainly not opposed to scientifically-based studies to examine the health dangers associated with using pesticides.
Shane isn’t certain if reductions of pesticides would negatively affect his business. “At the present time, there aren’t effective alternatives to pest control products,” he says.
Mike Christie, co-chair of Canadians Against Pesticides, disagrees.
“There are effective alternatives out there for people to have green, weed-free lawns without relying on the use of chemical pesticides,” says Christie. Admittedly, not always cheaper, he adds, but valid alternatives nonetheless.
He says his organization would like to take advantage of the education campaigns the city has commissioned to teach people some of these alternatives, so that when a bylaw is actually passed, they won’t be as resistant to trying non-chemical alternatives.
For Christie, the bottom line is that “the nature of pesticides being used on gardens is really for non-essential purposes and they’re not necessarily protecting human health. This is a very valid health concern.”
Christie says his organization is also not supportive of a complete ban on the use of pesticides. If pesticides can be used to eliminate a different health threat, like exterminating wasps near a person who is severely allergic to the sting, then he says they should in fact be used.
“That’s the balance people are weighing in the debate,” he says.
Despite the difference of opinion, both groups say the city is taking the right steps by commencing the investigation of the topic.
While the city says change is still a couple years away, it seems that for now, everyone involved is ready to take the next step.