Posted: September 10, 2009

Nearly 50 industry stakeholders gathered at a special meeting in Calgary, Sept. 3, to develop strategies to head off a potential bylaw in the city that would prohibit the urban use of pesticides.

Organized by CropLife Canada the trade organization representing a broad range of industry players, the meeting invitation list included representatives of agriculture, forestry, industrial vegetation management, lawn care, landscape, structural pest control, golf and Alberta nursery trades.

The goal was simple: to discuss the potential Calgary urban pesticide ban, to try and find ways to counteract the message of activist groups, and help get the industry side of the story out to politicians and the public.

"This is not about dandelions despite what they may be saying," says Nadine Sisk of CropLife. "It's about stigmatizing products that provide benefits to a wide range of important sectors to our life as well as our health."

Some of those groups have openly stated what the crop protection industry has known for years, that this is the thin edge of the wedge, working toward an outright ban on pesticides, including agriculture, says Sisk. "If it's not safe on your lawn, how much of a step is it to before people start being concerned about the impact on food?"

Industry has pushed the science behind the registration of its pesticide products but is openly frustrated by the fact this has become in large part a political numbers game in both this and in similar instances of bans across Canada. Industry is hopeful, however, there is time to get the message of product safety and the economic impact of a ban, to Calgary decision-makers.

"We want people to understand the impact of their decisions and the implication as to what the city looks like. Calgary is a beautiful city. You just hosted the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) and Spruce Meadows is coming up. Those are events where what the city looks like matters. We need to consider what the city will look like if you take some of the tools out of the toolbox."