How will votes go on pesticide ban?
Coun. Tina Lange (second from left) will move to ban cosmetic pesticides.
NEWS/ CITY HALL — A proposal to ban cosmetic use of pesticides for residential landscaping may be in the hands of two new City councillors.
A motion favoring the ban will be put in front of Kamloops City council at its meeting on Tuesday.
Coun. Tina Lange made a notice of motion at last week’s meeting, saying cosmetic pesticides can’t be safely applied, and pose needless risk to public health.
Lange has been criticized for not consulting the pesticide industry before proposing her motion, but says the City’s urban agriculture committee wants a ban.
Several years ago, council restricted the use of cosmetic pesticides to application by licensed applicators. Then, three years ago, the council defeated a motion by Coun. Donovan Cavers that was similar to Lange’s.
Those who voted in favour of the Cavers motion included councillors Cavers, Lange, Arjun Singh and Nancy Bepple. Opposed were Mayor Peter Milobar and councillors Ken Christian, Pat Wallace, Nelly Dever and Marg Spina.
With Dever and Bepple having been defeated in the last election, Dieter Dudy and Denis Walsh could hold the deciding votes if incumbent councillors vote the same way they did last time.
Lange’s new motion states:
“WHEREAS cosmetic pesticides are non-essential, synthetic chemical products used to improve the appearance of landscapes,
“AND WHEREAS the use of non-essential, cosmetic pesticides pose needless risk to the health of people and pets;
“AND WHEREAS pesticides cannot be fully contained to a single location but move through the environment in water, air, and soil,
“AND WHEREAS cosmetic pesticides cannot be ‘properly’ or ‘safely’ applied and should only be used in emergency situations, such as a serious pest infestation which threatens the health of people or public safety;
“AND WHEREAS effective, alternative cosmetic pest controls exist;
“THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that within the City of Kamloops, no person may use or apply pesticides or grant permission or authority to use or apply pesticides on residential lands, for the purpose of maintaining turf, outdoor trees, shrubs, flowers, or other ornamental plants.”
ArmchairMayor.ca 
They need to change the wording of their proposal if it is to make any sense or be legal. I wonder if people can still spray their fruit trees, which is cosmetic as well because nobody has proven that wormy fruit is bad for you. Health for sure is not the issue for commercial use of both pesticides and herbicides because of economic effects for growers, money is the main concern. So in order for there to be a huge improvement in lessening these chemicals in our bodies and the environment, they would have to ban their use altogether, which will never happen. Also, it is known that copper and gold exists in arsenic containing rock formations and that mining releases these elements into the air and water. It would be refreshing if our city council would get off the fence and show as much concern for what we will be exposed to daily. Not just with what we breathe, but also what will fall onto our lawns and gardens.
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What kind of pest are we dealing with here?
Is it a corporation that that is legally bound to put its bottom line before anything else, even the public good?
Is it a foreign government or our own? Or both?
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Given the nature of politics I’m sure coun. Lane wouldn’t introduce this resolution again if she wasn’t sure she had the votes. I would venture a guess it will pass and so it should. People have this irrational fear that their yards will become wastelands should it go through. Want a trick to keeping those dandelions at bay? Mow your lawn.
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Lange needs to study her subject a little more. People are against Herbicides, not necessarily Pesticides. There is a big difference there. And just why the hell should council ” consult ” the industry first ? We all know that safety claims from them are a big farce.
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The way that motion is worded, the field is wide open for someone to spray Roundup, or something similar, then say, well the bylaw states Pesticides, not Hebicides.
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I thought that the raise they voted themslves was supposed to attract people with more smarts ……FAIL.
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Actually grouch I think herbicides will be covered under this wording. Looking at Ontario’s province wide ban on pesticides which was called the “Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Act” it encompassed numerous herbicides including roundup. I think they all get lumped together under the same category. However, round-up can still be used to kill plants deemed poisonous to touch. Also, Ontario’s ban has been in place since 2009 and they seem to be doing just fine.
Here’s a link to see what it entailed and maybe our law will follow suit if implemented.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/pesticides/highlights-of-ontarios-cosmetic-pesticide-ban/ (yeah, its suzukis website but it was the best i could find on short notice.)
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