We're very close to a major victory:

On Tuesday, April 22nd, the government of Ontario introduced legislation that will ban the sale and use of cosmetic pesticides throughout the province.

Click here for details.

Debunk common myths about pesticides.

Read Pesticide Free? Oui! to learn about how Quebec's cosmetic pesticide legislation works, how it can be improved, and how it can be a model for pesticide laws in other provinces.

David Suzuki explains why his garden is free of chemical pesticides.

Tips to make your own garden pesticide free.

Background
The Ontario government has pledged to introduce a law this spring to “ban the cosmetic use of pesticides.” Lawn and garden pesticides pose needless risks to human health and the environment.

Thirty-six Ontario municipalities have already adopted bylaws to restrict the use of lawn and garden pesticides, paving the way for a province-wide ban. Where municipal bylaws are already in force, provincial legislation can add value by banning the sale as well as use of cosmetic pesticides.

Provincial Pesticide Bans Work! Quebec is currently the only province to restrict cosmetic pesticide sales (the Ontario ban will not be in place until 2009). Statistics Canada found that the number of households using pesticides in Quebec decreased by 50% between 1994 and 2005. Nationwide, pesticide use dipped by only 2 percentage points over the same period. Click here for summary

More info:

Click here for the David Suzuki Foundation's official submission to the provincial government.

Background information posted on the Environmental Registry.

Joint statement of 15 health and environmental organizations in support of Ontario-wide ban.

Northern Exposure: Acute Pesticide Poisonings in Canada. This study published by the David Suzuki Foundation reports 1600 cases of acute pesticide poisoning in Ontario in a year, more than half involving children under the age of six.

Pesticide Literature Review by the Ontario College of Family Physicians: a systematic review of human health effects associated with chronic pesticide exposure.

Thanks to all of you who took part in the valentines cards. The Ontario Minister of Enviornment has pledged to ban the sale and use of cosmetic pesticides.
Please sign onto the joint statement (see link at top of page) to ensure that the Ontario government follows through on this promise with a strong law.

Show your romantic side--and your support for a strong law.
Send a pesticide-free, zero-emission bouquet and card to Premier McGuinty.
Valentine's Day is over, but flowers warm the heart year round--send your message now.
_{* the flowers are zero-emission because they are virtual. No real flowers will be sen}t.

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Pick Your Favorite Card--Send your Message to the Premier

Dalton Jr, Please be mine, My no-pesticide lawn is just fine Not for use and NOT FOR SALE To kill slugs in my garden, I'll put beer in a pail I support a province-wide ban on the use and sale of lawn and garden pesticides.

Roses are Red Violets are Blue Pesticides kill wee creatures And make humans sick too Cosmetic pesticides are toxic and unnecessary! Please ban both the sale and use of them in Ontario.

Roses are Red Violets are Blue If Quebec can do it Ontario can too Quebec has banned the sale of many pesticides. Ontario can do the same!

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Ontario should ban the use AND SALE of lawn and garden pesticides. 
Tell Premier McGuinty that love cannot wait - the law should be in place this year!

Don't snooze: the chemical industry is wooing him too.

Share the love: send this to a friend.

Join the David Suzuki Foundation in calling for a law that:

• Bans the SALE of lawn and garden pesticides, as well as their use, province-wide;
• Allows exemptions only to protect public health;
• Is passed into law this yea r.