 Council considers education before enacting pesticide bylaw
Kelowna Capital News
Shelley Nicholl, Staff Reporter
February 8, 2006
Would a photo of a cherubic, blonde four-year-old girl nestled in the grass stop you from using pesticides in your yard?
The City of Toronto hopes so because such a picture is part of its campaign to educate homeowners about pesticide use and get them to stop using them.
Toronto also has a bylaw prohibiting the use of certain pesticides for home use that stands behind its education component.
Locally, councillors weren't sure that would be necessary, siding toward more education at this point.
At Monday's council meeting, council agreed to have staff research a pesticide bylaw for homeowners, but were leery it might be costly and invasive.
"It's very difficult to police what goes on behind people's hedges," said Coun. Robert Hobson.
He also questioned whether it would be effective, or just a symbolic gesture.
The cost of such a bylaw is about 50 cents to $1 per person to enforce.
Hobson suggested that money might be better spent on education.
In a presentation to council, environment manager Mark Watt suggested the public has become more interested in establishing a bylaw over the years.
The city's annual survey indicated last year that 59 per cent of those polled supported a pesticide bylaw on residential land.
One of the recommendations from Watt's department was to hire a consultant and do a public survey to get a better idea if the public supports a bylaw.
But Coun. Barry Clark suggested council skip that part and just get the research first.
Bring back a bylaw and we'll look at the cost verses the results, he said.
If a bylaw looks like a worthwhile idea, it can be taken public at that time.
A proposed bylaw is expected to come back later in the year.
The other part of the staff recommendation was to keep the commercial pesticide notification registry in place and beef it up a little.
The registry is so that those on the list who may have respiratory problems or other concerns about pesticide use close to their home, be notified if sprays are being done in their area.
Council agreed that that would now require notification when pesticide spraying for codling moth and the cherry fruit fly.
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