Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Waterloo Councillor - The people WILL comply

Even though Waterloo Region has just finished the first year of a partial pesticide ban and even though Dalton McGuinty is pushing for a province-wide pesticide ban in his re-election platform, City of Waterloo Councillor Angela Vieth is demanding a bylaw for a year-round ban that would start as early as January of 2008.


"This community is ready for this and people will comply," Vieth said.

"It's time. I want it done. It's got to be done by 2008 and, I'm sorry, we've been waiting too long for this."

Never mind what lawn care companies and homeowners want.


Oh, but she has a formidable ally:
The Canadian Cancer Society is calling on the city to impose a total ban on cosmetic pesticide use, said Diane Hawrylenko, the local society's public issues chair.

While scientists haven't proven a conclusive link between pesticides and cancer rates, the society is concerned about the long-term health effects of pesticide exposure, especially when there is no health benefit to using pesticides, she said.


I wonder if the city's Grey Silo Golf Course would still be exempt under Vieth's agenda? Health benefits... Well, it is healthy to play golf, I suppose. But what about those pesticides? Aren't they poisonous, according to Vieth? Your hand touches the golf ball that came in contact with all those horrible pesticides, right? And you inhale the air. That can't be good.



Anyway, it seems that Councillor Vieth's mind is made up, so lawn care companies best pack up and move elsewhere:


"The debate is over," she said. "There are no more excuses. We are way behind on this issue. Just do it, and do it right please.



But Dalton already promised a pesticide ban if re-elected, right? And according to the polls, McGuinty is still ahead, right?

So why all this duplication of effort?

Is it possible that Councillor Vieth doesn't believe Dalton's promises either?


* * * *

Uh-oh! On second thought, maybe you'd better ramp up the rhetoric, Councellor Vieth!!!


2 comments:

Brian in Calgary said...

Voters are more fond of Conservative leader John Tory than the current premier of Ontario, according to a new poll.

Interesting. IMHO this has its basis in all the policy reversals that the good Premier has made. No doubt, he will make a case that each reversal was justified, and he could conceivably be correct. However, the sheer number of them are coming back to bite him on the backside.

Anonymous said...

I will not comply with the suggestion of this rookie Councillor and I would encourage others not to as well. I will continue to use safe pesticides on my lawn as long as they are available somewhere in the Province. It's just another example of over reacting to a perceived problem. These people need to get their priorities straight, and butt out of individuals personal lives.