Their intentions were good, but Innisfil’s fledgling pesticide use committee is folding less than a year after it was struck.
That’s because the provincial government has decided to pass legislation restricting the use of pesticides on residential lawns. The new pesticide rules are expected to be in force by next spring.
Counc. Bill Pring, who sparked Innisfil’s pesticide committee last spring, is glad to see the provincial government regulate pesticide use across Ontario.
“This means our committee goes by the wayside,” Pring said Tuesday, the day the provincial initiative was announced. “But this is much better than having it done piecemeal from one town to the next.”
The only downside Pring sees is that municipalities will likely have to enforce the provincial regulations without additional funding from Queen’s Park.
“That’s usually what ends up happening,” he said.
While Innisfil’s committee got off the ground last summer, the province’s announcement hasn’t wasted much work on the committee’s part, Pring said.
“We had heard a while ago that the province was going to do this. We thought it was coming sooner,” he said. “We were just waiting to see what the province would do.”
Because Innisfil is a lakeside municipality, it’s important to regulate pesticide use, Pring said.
“Lake Simcoe is such a jewel and there is run-off into the lake. It has to be protected from that,” Pring said. “Hopefully everybody plays by the rules.”
Environmental groups, including Lake Simcoe advocates, have been lobbying the provincial government for a province-wide ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides for a number of years.
Last summer, Mary Jane Brinkos of Ladies of the Lake, called on the McGuinty Liberals to take action since it seemed unlikely the federal government would take up the cause.
While she applauded Innisfil’s local move, she preferred a provincial option.
Pesticide Reform Ontario also lobbied for provincial legislation by arguing pesticide use is a health issue, which falls under provincial jurisdiction.
About 125 Ontario municipalities, including Georgina, have pesticide bylaws in place. The provincial legislation will eventually supersede those bylaws.
Today's Weather 
Unknown and 16°C
Unknown and 16°C
