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City of Ottawa To Debate Pesticide By-Law October 20th
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TODAY!!! THE VOTE IS EXPECTED TO BE VERY CLOSE.
Ottawa Riverkeeper supports a bylaw for the City of Ottawa that would phase-out the non-essential use of lawn and garden chemicals including pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides.
To learn more about our concerns about the use of pesticides you can read our letter to Mayor Chiarelli on this issue:
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TAKE ACTION!
WHAT: Please call the Mayor & your city councillor today to support a pesticide by-law in Ottawa. Write/fax/e-mail as well;
WHEN: On Thursday, October 20th the City of Ottawa’s, Health, Recreation & Social Services Committee will be voting on a motion to adopt a pesticide use by-law on private property within the City of Ottawa. The meeting will be held in the Andrew S. Haydon at Ottawa City Hall starting at 9:30 a.m. The meeting is expected to hear 5 min presentations all day and well into the evening. In 2002, there were 126 presentations that end at 2:30 am the next day. This remains a record at city hall and could be broken on Oct 20th ;
WHY: Both the federal and provincial governments continue to demonstrate a lack of political will to place public health as the first priority when exposing us to these unnecessary toxic pesticides. Your municipal government will put public health first but you need to take action today and let city council know;
WHY: Lobbyists for the chemical lawn companies are out in full force fearmongering over job losses, telling us and their customers that lawn pesticides are safe, and urging Councillors to vote NO to a pesticide by-law;
WHY: This is our last significant chance to put a stop to the unnecessary use of lawn and garden pesticides make a real difference in our neighbourhoods in Ottawa.
==============HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION
Here’s how you can help make a difference:
PHONE, the Mayor and your Councillor asking them to support a pesticide bylaw in Ottawa (see the contact info below). You can ;
HELP get the word out!! Make five phone calls to your network of friends and family to help spread the word out and take action between now and Oct 26th;
PLAN TO ATTEND the Health, Recreation & Social Services Committee meeting on October 20th 9:30 am to show support for the pesticide by-law motion. The meeting is open to the public;
READ UP on the health risks that pesticides pose to our communities;
RESPOND to articles with letters to the editor
ATTEND the Ultimate Demonstration Rally for a Pesticide By-law at noon at City Hall;
CIRCULATE THIS MESSAGE WIDELY to your networks and colleagues living or working in the Ottawa region.
==============The following information may be useful:
Keep you letters/ e-mails brief (1 to 2 pages at most)
Letters of Support to HRSS Committee
Presentations:
Letters of Support to Your Councillor:
HRSS Agenda
City of Ottawa Staff Report on Pesticides
OTTAWA CITY COUNCIL CONTACT INFORMATION
==============================On December 18, 2002, at City Council voted in support of the following motion:
AND WHEREAS the public has clearly indicated its support for such a by-law;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, if the following targets for reduction in cosmetic pesticide use have not been met by the end of September 2005:
That staff be directed to prepare a by-law to be adopted by the end of 2005; and that such a by-law would incorporate the following principles:
Applicable to all private, industrial, commercial and institutional property within the boundaries of the City of Ottawa.