WHEREAS residents of the Province of British Columbia are increasingly requesting their local governments to ban the use of cosmetic pesticides within their boundaries in order to mitigate concerns that these pesticides present a threat to the environment, children, pets and personal health. As these bylaws are being implemented in some municipalities, it has been found that community bans have little effect on overall pesticide sales. This is in sharp contrast to the Province of Quebec which has seen a fifty percent drop in pesticide use since their legislated ban in 1994; AND WHEREAS the Community Charter does not give communities the legislative authority to ban the sale of pesticides, only to regulate their use: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Province of British Columbia enact provincial legislation that will ban the sale and use of cosmetic pesticides province-wide.
Ministry of Environment Pesticides can only be used in Canada if they have been evaluated and registered by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada PMRA. A new federal Pest Control Products Act was enacted in June 2006 which gives more authority to Health Canada to require pesticide evaluations to address the protection of children. Health Canada has been re-evaluating the acceptability of all active ingredients that were registered prior to 1995, including those used on lawn and landscapes. British Columbia looks to this agency for determining what pesticide uses are acceptable. The Ministry of Environment is not aware of any data specific to B.C. that demonstrate that municipal pesticide bans have been ineffective in controlling pesticide sales and use. Many pesticides may be used for both cosmetic and non-cosmetic purposes. The Ministry has received comments of concern from key sectors that pesticides must remain available for non-cosmetic purposes including control of invasive plants, noxious weeds, and pests that may impact structures or food crops. The Ministry promotes and, in some cases, requires the use of Integrated Pest Management IPM when making decisions about pest management. IPM includes the use of pest prevention techniques and the use of alternatives to pesticides where possible. Ontario has recently passed legislation that bans the sale and use of pesticides used for cosmetic purposes. The proposed regulation prohibits the sale and use of many landscape pesticides. Quebec has only banned the use of a few active ingredients. Herbicide fertilizer mixtures have been prohibited for use and sale in other provinces. British Columbia is currently studying the regulatory initiatives of other jurisdictions with a view to understanding their effectiveness. Because of its impact, any initiative to restrict the sale or use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes would need to be developed with broad public consultation.