Beginning next year, Manitoba will become the sixth province to ban the use of cosmetic pesticides after its government introduced new legislation this week.
It is said Manitoba’s regulations will be in line with Ontario’s pesticide ban, which was put in place in 2009 and includes more than 250 pesticides and more than 80 pesticide ingredients, including 2,4-D, Diazinon and glyphosate.
According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the legislation will not invoke an outright ban on pesticide use, but instead requires the use of approved lower-risk bio-pesticides to control weeds on lawns.
However, its use on grass bordering sidewalks and patios, schools, playgrounds, parks, hospitals and daycare centres would not be permitted, Manitoba Conservation Minister Gord Mackintosh said in the report.
It will not apply to residential gardens, nor will it affect the agriculture, forest, or golf course turf maintenance industries. And, although the ban will start Jan. 1, homeowners will have a one-year grace period. Afterwards, offenders could face fines, but these details are still being discussed.
According to a CBC News report, lawn care and landscaping companies in the province are questioning the ban on some products they use, which they say have recently been reviewed and said to be safe to use by Health Canada, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The government, however, feels there is enough evidence to warrant the ban.
For more on the legislation, visit the Manitoba government’s website http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=30526&posted=2014-04-22
