(OTTAWA) The Sierra Club of Canada today congratulated city councillors in Cobalt, Ontario, on being the first municipality in Ontario to pass a bylaw banning non-essential use of pesticides on all properties within the municipality. The bylaw will come into force November 1, 2002.
“There are a number of communities in Ontario planning similar by-laws, and we were all waiting to see who would be first. Cobalt beat us all to it!” said Angela Rickman, deputy director of the Sierra Club of Canada.
Ottawa plans to introduce a by-law in the fall, and Toronto and Caledon are both crafting by-laws of their own. Halifax was the only municipality outside Quebec to have passed a by-law prohibiting pesticide use on private property.
The Sierra Club of Canada has been working with groups, town councillors, parents, and school boards in over 50 communities across Canada to phase out the cosmetic use of pesticides. Campaigns are running in communities from Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, to Victoria, BC.
The by-law comes on the heels of an announcement by the Quebec Minister of State for Environment, Andre Boisclair, which will see chemicals for non-essential uses banned in the province. The Canadian Cancer Society has recently released its position advocating a ban on cancer-causing pesticides, and only last week, the Canadian Public Health Association passed a resolution denouncing non-essential pesticide use.
“This council has taken a bold step towards protecting Cobalt residents from the most common and frivolous exposure to chemical pesticides in the urban environment,” said Rickman. “This is a great example of progressive legislation and the exercise of political will to protect the most vulnerable. Ultimately, if the most vulnerable are adequately protected, we all are.”
