Reversing ban on cosmetic pesticide use lauded

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/06/2023 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The grass is greener on this side of legislation for lawn care companies.

Late last year, the Progressive Conservatives reversed a ban on cosmetic pesticide use — which is considered optional or non-essential — that was put in place by Manitoba’s NDP government in 2014.

“It’s long overdue,” said Ed Medgyes, a Lawn Boys pesticide applicator.

For years, in customers’ yards he used an organic weed killer, one of few allowed by the provincial government, despite Health Canada approvals of other herbicides, he noted.

“I found that the environmental impact was far more negative than using the products we had been,” Medgyes said.

During that time, he would revisit clients’ houses sometimes three times a summer to spray for weeds. It used more gas, was less effective and cost more money, Medgyes said.

“There was a loss of business,” he noted without giving specific numbers. “People were paying, and they weren’t getting the same results that they used to get.”

This season, Lawn Boys is back to using Par 3, a herbicide with chemicals approved by Health Canada.

“(It’s) so good at what it does, you only need perhaps one application, maybe two,” Medgyes said, adding it’s a substantially lower cost.

At the time, the NDP cited Manitobans’ health and the environment as its reason for banning cosmetic pesticides. Medgyes and others in the industry take issue with the claim.

“(Health Canada researchers) are truly the experts,” said David Hinton, president of Weed Man’s Winnipeg chapter.

The ban was “completely arbitrary” — people could use the products on their gardens, and the city could spray golf courses with the herbicides, he said.

The recent rule reversal is the province getting “back to some common sense,” Hinton said.

It could take several seasons before Lawn Boys regains the customer levels it had pre-pesticide ban since many Manitobans don’t know about the rule reversal, Medgyes said.

There are opponents to the change, including Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Manitoba. The group did not respond to interview requests by print deadline.

“We’re not eating our lawns,” Medgyes said. “If people really have a concern about pesticide use, let’s take it out of the food supply long before we take it off our grass.”

Pesticide use is still restricted at schools, child-care centres and hospitals. The province also has restrictions on pesticide use in municipal playgrounds, picnic areas, dog parks and provincial parks.

Golf courses and agricultural sectors continue to be exempt from the restrictions.

“We are in line with Health Canada and the rest of Canada,” provincial Environment and Climate Minister Kevin Klein wrote in statement.

The province has received fewer than five complaints about non-essential pesticide use since the law changed, he added.

“We are always open to hearing from Manitobans regarding their views on this legislation,” Klein continued, noting municipalities can create their own bylaws on the issue.

In 2016, the provincial government conducted a public survey regarding the cosmetic pesticide ban. More than 2,100 responses came in; 62 per cent said the restrictions were too strict.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com