Exciting news came from our neighbours to the east. The Government of Manitoba has announced that it will be banning the use of cosmetic pesticides by the start of 2015. In doing so Manitoba will become the seventh province to have legislation banning cosmetic pesticides. Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador and over 150 communities nationwide have made the change and are seeing the benefits. In Ontario, a Ministry of the Environment study found that after the ban had been in place for two years the levels of the three most common lawn care pesticides had dropped by around 80% in urban streams.
Our families, our friends, and even our pets, all benefit when we stop using harmful cosmetic pesticides. So congrats to the Manitoba Government for making this positive decision. One can only hope that if a prairie province like Manitoba is willing to make this change Saskatchewan and Alberta won't be too far behind. But with British Colombia considering the idea of implementing a ban they may soon be.
For more information on the ban you can read Dianne Saxe's article on the ban or visit the Government of Manitoba's site to read the full press release.
Brett
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