Honourable Steve Peters, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London.
By Steve Peters, The Windsor Star August 18, 2011 12:00 AM
On April 22, 2009, the Ontario Liberals passed legislation banning the sale and use of pesticides with exceptions for golf courses and farms.
Is it not ludicrous that we are permitted to use pesticides on the food we eat but not on the lawns we walk on? Golf courses excepted. Allegedly, the ban was to protect the environment and the health of Ontarians.
In reality it was driven by the environmental lobby.
The most effective weed killer was 2,4-D (i.e. Killex) and it was a major target of the ban.
Apparently, neither the environmentalists nor the Liberal politicians read, or chose to ignore, the following Health Canada Release on 2,4-D:
May 16, 2008: "The Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), the federal body responsible for the regulation of pesticides in Canada has concluded its reevaluation of (2,4-dichlorophenoxy) acetic acid (2,4-D).
"Health Canada has determined that 2,4-D meets Canada's strict health and safety standards, and as such can continue to be sold and used in Canada.
"Health Canada reviewed 2,4-D as part of the re-evaluation program that determines if the pesticides currently on the market and registered before Jan. 1, 1995, meet modern health and environmental standards. The decision on 2,4-D is consistent with that of regulators in other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, including the U.S., New Zealand and countries of the European Union.
"Health Canada understands that the public may have concerns over the use of pesticides and would like to convey that all registered pesticides undergo a thorough sciencebased risk assessment and must meet strict health and environmental standards before approved for use in Canada."
STEVE PETERS, Windsor
What does the pesticide ban protect?.