City Moves Ahead with Pesticide Bylaw

Tom Davies, general manager of the Weed Man lawn care franchise on John Street North, thinks council was wrong to scrap plans for public involvement in a pesticide committee and instead assign three councillors to draft a bylaw restricting use of insect sprays and weedkillers on lawns and gardens.

Davies says the broader committee that council envisioned in 2002 might have come up with solutions that didn't require legislation. He also argues Hamilton would be wise to do nothing until the courts rule on an industry appeal challenging the legality of Toronto's new pesticide ban.

But Ward 1 Councillor Brian McHattie, who chairs the three-member panel, said the situation has changed since the former council decided to set up a committee two years ago.

Since then, more than 60 Canadian municipalities have passed bylaws and McHattie said Hamilton council is ready to look at one of its own.

The 2002 plan called for three lawn care industry representatives, three environmentalists, three unaligned citizens and three councillors, but only the councillors were chosen and they met only once. The whole idea was put on hold while public health staff grappled with the double challenge of West Nile virus and SARS.

Council is now asking McHattie, as committee chair, and councillors Dave Mitchell and Dave Braden to draft a bylaw and invite the public to react. On the recommendation of its social and public health services committee, council will thank the people who applied to serve in 2002 and tell them their input will be welcomed during the public consultation process.

McHattie said this week, "The world's moved ahead and we've decided to advance in a different way. Sixty-odd municipalities across the country have adopted legislation and the Ontario Superior Court ruled last December that Ontario municipalities have jurisdiction to regulate pesticide use."