Earlier this summer we
reported that Ontario
Pesticide Act prosecutions have become infrequent
since the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOE) stopped
having specialized pesticide enforcement staff. Now that the season
is soon to change over, we decided to take a look at the year's
violation reports to see if MOE's intentions with respect to
pesticide enforcement have changed.
In
June 2008, the Ontario legislature passed the Cosmetic
Pesticide Ban Act which amended the provincial Pesticide Act to ban
the use and sale of lawn and garden pesticides.
Permitted pesticides for managing lawn and garden pests include
Borax, soap and corn gluten meal. The Pesticide Act also requires
those who apply pesticides to have a license, as well as a permit
to apply particular pesticides that may be harmful to human health
or the environment. Effectiveness of the act has been questioned;
it's been reported by the
CBC that Canadians are cross-border shopping in
