Charlottetown closer to pesticide ban

Soldiers in the fight against pesticides on P.E.I. rejoiced Monday nightat Charlottetown City Council, with the passing of the first and second readings of a cosmetic pesticide bylaw.

"I'm delighted that the bylaw passed" said Roger Gordon, a member of Pesticide Free PEI.

Close vote

The bylaw passed narrowly with a five to four vote, as councillor Melissa Hilton excused herself due to a conflict of interest, as her husband owns a pesticide application company.

Some councillors felt the city should wait until the fall to vote the bylaw in, feelingthey could learn fromStratford and Cornwall,who are implementing their new bans this year.

• Cosmetic pesticide ban passed by Cornwall

• Cosmetic pesticide ban passed by Stratford

Greg Rivard was one of the councillors who shared that opinion.

"We had an opportunity to see, you know,if Cornwall and Stratford, if they were successful, if they had some speed bumps along the way," said Rivard. "Then we can bring in a bylaw come September, October that encompassed some of the short comings if there was any and bring in a powerful strong bylaw for 2017."

Other members disagreed and so didGordon.

"I think if this were a new concept,if this were the first time cosmetic pesticide bylaws had been construed, I would see the point in it," he said

"This has been going on for 10to 15years, that communities have been passing bylaws very similar to the one that has been passed," he added."People were talking about rush, let's not rush things, I think they're being very slow in passing this legislation. So I really don't think that those arguments have very much value."

Gordon agreed with Deputy Mayor Mike Duffy whosaid Charlottetown should be leading, and that it was already behind after council shot down a similar bylaw last year.

• Charlottetown cosmetic pesticide law bounced back to province

New rules

The new bylaw is based on the ones inCornwall and Stratford.

It bans the use of non-domestic pesticides on any residential or commercial property in the town with some exceptions such as golf courses, agriculture useor public utilities land.

There is a list of 41 allowable pesticides, and professional applicators can apply for an exception in the case of infestations ofinvasive species or tree bugs, fora $50fee.

The fines for non-compliance will range from $1,000 - $2,500 for a first offense and go up to $2,500 - $5,000 on subsequent offenses.

Overall Gordon and his team are pleased that the bylaw is nowclose to going through, andthinks this could be the start of a province-wide ban.

"Once you have Charlottetown, Cornwall and Stratford, the sort of greater Charlottetown area all on board with a cosmetic pesticide policy, then I think that other communities, Summerside for example, Montague and so forth will come on board as well," he said.

The bylaw still has to pass third reading next month, and if it does, it will go into effect on January 1, 2017.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS|P.E.I. political funding: more than half from businesses, unions
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS|Inspection fee increases 'a cash grab,' says Opposition