KEY MESSAGES
Thank you for your interest in letting the Government of Ontario know that they need to do more work on the draft regulations to ban the sale and use of some pesticides in Ontario.
Since we understand not everyone's concerns are identical, the following are some messaging ideas that may help you if you choose to write your own letter.
Safety
Pesticides are already ably regulated by Health Canada. However, if the Government of Ontario insists on creating a new set of rules, at least base the rules on science so that Canadians know that the regulations developed to protect human health and safety and the environment have merit.
The Province of Ontario needs to explain what scientific criteria it uses to categorize current and future pesticide products. That's the only way homeowners and the professionals they hire can be guaranteed access to safe and effective products to protect the investment they have made in landscaping their properties.
I trust Health Canada to determine what products should be available for use. Each and every pesticide product that is on the shelf in Canada today has been through a thorough scientific assessment by Health Canada prior to being approved for sale and use.
All pesticides, whether they are intended for agricultural, lawn and garden, golf, forestry, or structural pest control, must meet the same high level of safety required by Health Canada.
Through this process special attention is paid to ensuring that all Canadians, including infants, children, pregnant women and the elderly, are protected.
Health Canada is staffed with over 300 health and environmental professionals including toxicologists, weed biologists, environmental scientists, and chemists with varying degrees including Masters and PhDs. What resources can the province dedicate to doing the same work the federal government is already doing?
Closing the door on innovation
Without scientific criteria, how do you expect business to innovate?
It costs millions of dollars and years of research to bring a new product to market. Companies will not make that investment if they do not have a reasonable chance of having a new product approved. Lack of scientific criteria makes it impossible to assess whether or not it is worth making such an investment – and that impacts all sectors that use pesticides.
Ontario is such a big part of the Canadian marketplace that if companies do not know what to expect in Ontario, it is unlikely they will look at investing in Canada at all. As a small marketplace, Canada already misses out on some opportunities – this will make it even worse.
Definition of cosmetic
My personal property is important to me and I want access to safe and effective tools that will help me protect the investments I have made in trees, shrubs, flowers, lawns and gardens when they're under attack by a pest that cannot be controlled by other methods.
I value public green spaces and believe it is important that there are safe and effective tools available to protect these public spaces.
Healthy plants and green spaces provide us with a variety of benefits including:
- Strong tree canopy in cities and towns provide a cooling effect, making people who live, work and play in municipalities more comfortable on warm days,
- Playing field surfaces that are safe for sports and recreation,
- Oxygen production and capture of carbon and urban pollution,
- Beautification of urban environments,
- Reduced noise pollution
- Bird and wildlife attraction
Sometimes even the best-tended green spaces require pesticides to control infestations. For example white grub infestations can appear without warning and quickly devastate the lawns of entire neighborhoods. Chinch bugs and many types of weeds are also very difficult to control without tools specifically designed for that purpose. Homeowners' rose bushes, a source of pride and joy, are often susceptible to fungal infestation which, left untreated, can devastate these plants.
A lack of proper tools for treating pests can lead to greater infestations that become even more costly and difficult – and sometimes even impossible - to control. The result can be a complete loss of turf, shrubs and/or trees in the given area.
Without effective pesticides, green spaces will be more difficult and costly to maintain and frustrated residents may turn to unregistered products with unknown health and environmental effects and questionable value. Homeowners may also resort to paving over valuable green spaces and losing the benefits of these important areas.
Impact on agriculture
All pesticides, whether they are intended for agricultural, lawn and garden, golf, forestry, or structural pest control, must meet the same high level of safety required by Health Canada.
By saying that these products are unsafe for urban use, the Government of Ontario is having an unwarranted and negative impact on the impressions Canadians have about food production and the use of pesticides in agriculture.
Pesticides are important tools that help farmers provide an affordable supply of safe and healthy foods.
Without the safe and effective pesticides our industry provides, farmers would harvest less and Canadians would end up paying more to feed their families healthy foods.
The sad reality is that higher food costs would mean that some families would end up eating less of the foods they need most for good health.
Without pesticides, our ability to produce food in Canada would decrease by as much as 40 per cent and pest infestations would periodically wipe out an entire crop, causing tremendous variation in food availability and cost from year to year.
Farmers in Ontario must be licensed by the Ministry of Environment to purchase most of the pesticides they use on their farm. In addition, all farmers are legally obligated to follow the directions for use on each pesticide label – directions that are the result of Health Canada's rigorous risk assessment to ensure the product can be used safely. To think that some of the exemption conditions now imposed on other use sectors, such as the requirement to hold annual public meetings, could easily be transferred to the agricultural sector or potentially having to justify what is 'cosmetic' or not, should be of concern to all farmers.
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