Pesticide Posturing in Ottawa

Fri 22 Sep 2006 The Ottawa Citizen Pesticide posturing Re: Ban pesticides along Rideau, McRae suggests, Sept. 20.

I find the timing of the latest pronouncement on pesticides by Maria McRae to be ironic, hypocritical and thinly veiled. While I agree that our precious water needs to be protected through local-use restrictions on chemical spraying, our precious children need to be protected too. To be truly effective, restrictions on unnecessary use of chemical pesticides must apply throughout the City of Ottawa, not just the Rideau watershed. The city's 2003 Surface Water Pesticide Monitoring Program reported that four of the top five pesticides (herbicides mecoprop (MCPP), dicamba and 2,4-D, and the insecticide diazinon) used by lawn-care applicators at the time were detected in the Rideau waterway. The greatest concentrations were found in urban areas of the Lower Rideau watershed. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, of which Ms. McRae is a member, was made aware of the Rideau pollution issue by urban lawn chemicals in 2005, but support for local legislative restrictions was not forthcoming. Ms. McRae also championed an industry-friendly pesticide bylaw in 2005 that was so watered-down that it would have been one of the weakest in Canada.It was a blessing that the McRae bylaw failed, because Ottawa deserves better.

Mike Christie, Nepean