The day lawn and landscape professionals in the Canadian province of Ontario have been expecting has arrived. Legislation was proposed Tuesday that would prohibit in the province the use and sale of pesticides the government says are for cosmetic purposes.
The provincial government’s Web site cites a commitment to reducing Ontarians’ exposure to toxic chemicals in the air, water, land and consumer products.
“Use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes is an unnecessary risk to human health, particularly children’s health,” the site says.
| THE PROPOSAL |
Click here for more information about the proposed law. |
While some contractors say they’ll be doomed if the law is enacted, Alan White says this is an opportunity for the industry to come together.
“I see this as a starting point,” says the owner of Burlington-based lawn-care company Turf Systems. “Part of the test over time is to see how we adjust and how well we can learn from those experiences and move in a positive direction.”
White expects the law will pass through the legislature and be enacted fairly quickly – the government has indicated it could take effect next spring. When it does, his company will look further into the integrated plant management (IPM) system it uses to try to control the variables that create weeds in the first place. The company already is IPM accredited.
It’s not a surprise that the law was proposed, says Gavin Dawson, regional technical manager for GreenLawn, TruGreen’s Canadian arm, and chair of the lawn care commodity group of Landscape Ontario, a trade association.
“We knew this was coming up,” he says. “We have been working with the provincial government on this for the past several months.”
The same day the legislation was proposed, The Home Depot announced it would phase out all pesticide products from its store shelves in Canada by the end of the year and replace them with natural alternatives. The new laws would prohibit the stores from selling the products in Ontario, but the chain’s phase-out applies to stores throughout Canada.
This was disappointing news to CropLife Canada, an association representing the developers, manufacturers and distributors of plant science products. The group says the products at The Home Depot, as well as other pesticides available, have already undergone a regulatory process to ensure the science is safe.
CropLife also takes issue with the proposal that certain sectors are excluded from the ban, including agriculture and forestry uses. In addition, golf courses also are excluded from the law, provided certain conditions are met. Suggesting that these applications don’t provide a health threat while lawn and garden use does presents a double standard, the association says.
Uses that are deemed necessary for public health and safety, including managing mosquitoes that carry the West Nile Virus, also would not fall under the legislation.
In addition, the law would override any municipal by-laws regarding cosmetic pesticide use. White welcomes the simplicity this will promote.
“The municipal bylaws were different in every city,” he says. “It was becoming impossible to operate a business and keep the regulations consistent. You could be treating one side of the street one way but because the person on the other side lived in another township, you couldn’t do anything for them. In a lot of ways this levels the playing field so when it moves forward we are dealing with one government and one rule.”
It also levels the playing field because it prohibits homeowners from buying pesticides where in the past they were permitted and professional turf managers weren’t, Dawson says.
The provincial government released a 39-page draft list of products that are being considered for the ban and a list of active ingredients that are in those products, including 2,4-D, dicamba, dithiopyr and imidicloprid. The lists will serve as the start of the conversation about what should be banned.
Quebec already has a similar ban in place, and Dawson says it’s likely other provinces will follow suit.
“Ontario tends to lead the way in terms of what happens in Canada,” he says.
Because the law focuses on banning pesticides for cosmetic use, Dawson hopes legislators will continue to permit the use of pesticides for managing destructive insects, such as gypsy moths or the emerald ash borer.
As the proposal is discussed, the industry needs to join together to present a strong front, White says.
“My hope is that we come out as truly a green industry so business isn’t under constant attack from environmentalists, and at the end of the day take its right place as the true green leader.”