INTERVIEW: Invermere Mayor on how they banned pesticides

By Andrew Zwicker

With Rossland about to embark on Round Two of the pesticide ban fight, one councillor—Kathy Moore--is suggesting following the model that Invermere has set.

In the spring of 2009, the district of Invermere adopted their pesticide banning bylaw. According to Mayor Gerry Taft, things are going well just over a year and a half in. This week the Telegraph caught up with Taft to discuss the process his city went through to get the bylaw in place and what advice he would have for a city like Rossland that is just embarking on that journey.

 

Tell me about the process the District of Invermere went through in getting your pesticide ban in place?

 

Well, we have a group of local citizens that lobbied our council to adopt a cosmetic pesticide bylaw and they were supported by the Canadian Cancer Society. Going through that process we did advertise it and ask for a consultation from the business community, people in the landscaping industry and other stakeholders. There were some concerns from a few individuals at a few of the businesses but we decided to proceed with the bylaw anyway.

What were some of the key things your council did to make the bylaw happen and get the public to buy in?

 

I think the key was the fact that there were local citizen that were really wanting action in this area. So we had this group of citizens that were actively involved in trying to see it through. That makes a big difference when it’s your own local residences asking for something versus if it was someone like the Cancer Society. It’s been people in the community that have really taken on the issue and come to us with it.

 

The fact that we focused on the education rather than enforcement stemmed concerns in some residents that we weren’t going to be sending bylaw enforcement officers into people’s yards to take samples or anything like that. It’s more of a proactive attempt and we’re looking for voluntary acceptance and more than anything setting an example for the community and perhaps even creating peer pressure between neightbours to go pesticide-free. If all the houses on once street have signs up the person who doesn’t probably feels like they should.

 

What are some examples of the education work the city has done?

 

The local group that has worked really hard to see the pesticide ban through has been at different trade fairs and public events with a booth and materials as far as alternatives to using pesticides and examples as far as other lawn maintenance and garden maintenance techniques. They’ve also created lawn signs for people to put in their lawn and promote that they are a pesticide free lawn. That’s been the main focus of the education so far.

 

Cities or district governments are often among the largest public space caretakers. Has the pesticide ban affected the city’s operations in the way you take care of parks and public spaces? If so has there been any additional financial effects on the city?

 

If anything it has saved us a little bit of money because there are less chemicals being used that cost us money. We have a private contractor that does a lot of the parks maintenance in Invermere, so we’ve worked with that contractor. In the district boundaries we are following the intent of the bylaw.

 

Of course, there are a list of exemptions of noxious weeds where in some cases you have to use pesticides or herbicides, but it’s really laid out in the bylaw what those exceptions are and in what parks it’s acceptable to be used. Overall, we haven’t seen a big change in city operations other than saving a bit of money. Our grass is maybe not quite as green, but other than that we haven’t seen any real changes.

 

A year and a half into the new bylaw, how has the community accepted it?

 

Other than concerns from the pesticide industry, that’s been the only negative comments we’re received. We haven’t received any negative comments from residents.

 

There is definitely a lobby group with the pesticide industry and some of the professional landscaper people and lawn maintenance people, so we got lots of questions about our bylaw and we’ve provided all of the information we can. There’s been some kind of for lack of a better term some veiled threats of real action or further complaints but to date nothing has materialized as far as those kinds of concerns go.

 

Having gone through the process yourself, is there any advice you’d give to a place like Rossland in getting a pesticide banning bylaw of their own in place?

 

I’d suggest Rossland research all of the bylaws out there, listen to the concerns and questions from the pesticide industry and all sides, but ultimately it’s the local government's own decision and that should not be influenced by larger organizations and lobbyists. They should be doing their own research rather than just listening to which side speaks louder.