Groups Push for Ontario, Canada Pesticide Ban

Ontario is being lobbied by a number of well-known medical, public-health and environmental organizations to institute a provincewide ban on the aesthetic use of pesticides.

If the Liberal government accepts the idea, Ontario would be the second province, after Quebec, to take this action and it would mean that more than half of the country's residents live in areas where the use of pesticides for cosmetic reasons has been made illegal, based on health concerns. Dozens of cities, including Toronto and Halifax, also have bans.

"We're hoping for legislation in Ontario like the legislation they've got in Quebec," said Gideon Forman, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, one of the groups requesting the ban.

It would mean homeowners would not be permitted to spray lawns with herbicides, such as 2,4-D, to kill dandelions just because they don't like the looks of the weed; they would only be able to use products to kill pests, such as rats or mosquitoes, that pose recognized health threats.

Source: Globe and Mail