MP urges city to move ahead with pesticide ban

Sat, May 13, 2006

By APRIL KEMICK, FREE PRESS REPORTER



Rookie MP Irene Mathyssen joined the heated local debate over pesticides yesterday, launching an online petition to persuade city councillors and MPs to move ahead with a ban.

The petition -- which can be found online at www. irenemathyssen.ca -- comes just weeks after city hall was swamped by thousands of letters, phone calls and e-mails from those opposed to banning the cosmetic use of pesticides.

At a news conference at city hall, Mathyssen said residents shouldn't wait for Parliament to adopt a private member's bill calling for a pesticide ban.

"We need to be proactive here (in London)," the London-Fanshawe NDP MP said. "This petition will give city hall and the federal government the message that we want to move ahead with a ban."

The private member's bill introduced by Winnipeg-Centre NDP MP Pat Martin should be seen as a "complement to, not a replacement for, municipal action and leadership," Mathyssen said.

Saying that many pesticides have been shown to cause harm to humans and animals, the petition calls on MPs to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides "until rigorous independent scientific and medical testing of chemical pesticides and parliamentary review of results is conducted."

Coun. Bill Armstrong, who has led the local charge for a ban, said he believes the majority of Londoners support the idea.

But John Matsui, a lobbyist for the lawn-care industry who launched the anti-ban blitz in April, said the majority of Londoners don't want to ban pesticides.

Matsui said the lawn-care industry serves about 30,000 of the 100,000 London households with grass and an additional 34,000 homeowners buy pesticide products, such as weed and feed.

"The math is 64,000 out of 100,000 (households) using pesticides," he said. "Sixty-four per cent of Londoners . . . already buy the stuff and use it."

Matsui, whose campaign on behalf of the lawn-care industry can be found online at www.londonpropertyrights.ca, said ban supporters are skewing science to back their claims.

"There's not a shred of scientific evidence that proves any of these things are any more harmful than coffee," he said.

"Every government regulatory agency in the world, without exception, says these chemicals are safe to use."

The online petition launched yesterday will be presented at a public meeting May 24 at 7 p.m. at Centennial Hall.

Mathyssen will also present the petition to Parliament.