Wildsight supports Canadian Cancer Society stance on pesticide report
By Contributor
Members of the public who have followed the Province’s legislative committee on pesticides are in for a disappointment according to Wildsight, a group based in the East Kootenay formed to protect biodiversity and encourage sustainable communities in Canada’s Columbia and southern Rocky Mountain region.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, the committee report is weak and does not recommend a ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides in B.C.
Both the Canadian Cancer Society and Wildsight are members of the Pesticide Free Columbia Basin Coalition. T
hey have been working with 17 partner groups, including doctor and public health associations, to raise awareness of links between pesticides, disease and adverse environmental effects.
The goal of the coalition is to create a healthier environment and healthier communities for all citizens of B.C.
“Wildsight supports the stance of the Canadian Cancer Society,” said Robyn Duncan, Wildsight’s Pesticide Reduction program manager.
“We’ve reviewed the science on pesticides—both epidemiological and toxicological studies—and remain firmly in support of a ban on cosmetic pesticides in B.C.”
Duncan noted that pesticides affect our environment by entering waterways, threatening important pollinators, such as bees, and killing the natural predators of pests—among other detrimental effects.
“Wildsight is working to find healthy, pesticide-free alternatives for people to use instead of pesticides,” Duncan said. “Healthy ecosystems are the foundation of healthy human communities.”
Five Kootenay communities—and 40 across the province—have enacted municipal bans.
Duncan said a province-wide ban would be the most effective way to move away from harmful pesticides and toward a healthier approach. “People are waking up to the dangers posed by many pesticides,” she said.
“Thousands of people support a province-wide ban and we hope it’s only a matter of time before the people of B.C. are protected by that ban.”
