Coquitlam residents and business owners can no longer use cosmetic pesticides on their lawns and gardens.
And Monday's decision by city council prompted the bylaw's champion to pump her fists in the air in a victory celebration after three years of lobbying her colleagues.
Coun. Selina Robinson continued the celebration on Twitter immediately after the 7-2 vote, tweeting, "Yeah! Coquitlam finally has a pesticide ban! Woot! Woot!"
The long-winding passage to get the new policy in place was disputed right to the end, with council allowing an exemption for the Fraser Pacific Rose Society for its Centennial Rose Garden at Dogwood Pavilion. As well, a last-minute move to delete a requirement for pesticide vendors to have a notice at each point of sale terminal was also contentious.
Last month, Paul Droulis of Canadian Tire in Maillardville told council that having extra signs at tills to warn customers about the city's pesticide prohibition would be "burdensome." He said his customers are coached on proper use of dangerous products when a sale is made.
But Robinson argued she and two residents had tested the practice and it failed on three occasions. Canadian Tire employees made no mention of pesticide safety risks during the transaction, she said.
Still, Coun. Brent Asmundson said the issue was brought up last week at the city's environmental advisory committee, which he chairs, and it unanimously agreed notices should be put on the shelves, next to the pesticide products. (Robinson, along with councillors Lou Sekora and Neal Nicholson, were unsuccessful in keeping the notices at the point of sale.)
Sekora, who with Coun. Terry O'Neill opposed the city's pesticide ban, said Coquitlam stores still have the right to sell the chemicals under provincial guidelines. "We can't ban it," Sekora said. "They're going to sell it and people are going to buy it. You can't take it off the shelves."
