Skip to content

EDITORIAL: Coquitlam pesticide ban is necessary

Coquitlam gardeners and weed-free lawn fans will have to think twice before spraying pesticides.

Coquitlam gardeners and weed-free lawn fans will have to think twice before spraying pesticides. Final adoption is required but this week Coquitlam council voted 7-2 to prohibit the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes and the last hurdle is a rubber stamp.

While it's true neither Coquitlam nor any other B.C. city can ban the sale of pesticides and likely doesn't have the resources to track down and fine pesticide-users who sneak out in the dead of night to zap their dandelions, it can respond to residents' complaints.

There are those who argue pesticides aren't the problem - that people are - and cancer concerns are just scare-mongering by sandal-wearing hippies.

(And as an aside, had Coun. Terry O'Neill, when he was a Tri-City News columnist, made the argument that the aesthetic benefits of a weed-free lawn or garden are a health issue similar to concerns about chemical pesticides, readers would have laughed him off page 11.)

But what it comes down to, really, is being a good neighbour. Pesticides don't always stay in one place and if a ban is necessary to respect people's right to pesticide-free lawns and salmon streams, then a ban is necessary.

What do you think? Do you agree with Coquitlam council's decision to ban pesticides for cosmetic purposes? Express yourself in our online poll.