The province of New Brunswick in Canada may have moved one step closer to a province-wide ban on cosmetic pesticides.
A provincial ban on cosmetic pesticides was overwhelmingly favoured by New Brunswickers in a recently released consultative report .
But Environment Minister Roland Haché said a decision on how the province will proceed on the file won’t be made until the spring.
“This summary of the public comments will help our government make a decision on which is the best pesticide management option for New Brunswick,” said Haché.
About 1,500 New Brunswickers expressed their thoughts and concerns about four proposed courses of action: continued emphasis on education and voluntary reduction, targeted regulatory changes, a new province-wide prohibition, and a role for municipal governments.
The province-wide ban was preferred by as many respondents as for all other options combined.
The report, prepared by the AMEC firm, stated that “respondents referenced literature and research suggesting links between pesticide use and exposure to negative health and environmental effects.”
It noted “the desire to eliminate the opportunity for collateral effects (i.e., pesticide applications neighbouring non-pesticide use areas), and that this major issue deserves the attention of PNB as it would have more resources available to address the issue compared to industry or municipalities.”
Moncton-East Liberal MLA Chris Collins said the results send a clear message to government.
“I believe it’s a clear message to the government of New Brunswick on which way to go forward,” said Collins.
“That is their job at this point in time, my job was to get the ball rolling and I am happy with the job the minister and the department have done.”
Collins, who has been pushing for prohibitions on cosmetic pesticides since his days on Moncton City Council, said he was proud that legislation will be forthcoming.
He called the report an early Christmas present.
While respondents were generally supportive of a province-wide ban, they pointed to some potential difficulties.
For example, the ease with which consumers could obtain the banned chemicals through cross-border shopping was noted.
Respondents questioned the exemptions of industries such as golf courses, agriculture, and forestry. They asked for more information about what other exempting circumstances could exist.
There were also questions raised over how a list of banned pesticides would be determined, and how a ban would impact the prevention and control of infestations and invasive species.
The question of how a ban could be enforced with limited provincial and municipal resources was also raised.
Education and awareness was deemed an effective complementary tool, but it was not seen as an effective “stand-alone” measure.
Doubts over legal rights of municipalities to enforce pesticide bans were also expressed.