Province weeds out attractive communities with pesticide ban, association says

Winnipeg is not the only community in the province where dandelion flowers are flourishingafter the provincial government put the kiboshon the use of cosmetic pesticides.

• Pesticide ban blamed for Winnipeg's excess weeds, dandelions

"We're seeing the same thing in all of our communities right across the province and that's why AMM wants to see a change to this pesticide ban,"said Doug Dobrowolski, president of theAssociation of Manitoba Municipalities.

It's not justdandelions, it is allkinds of weeds, Dobrowolski said, and they're taking over Manitoba's towns.Dobrowolski insists flexibility in the province's legislationis key.

"We're urging the province to exempt boulevards, ditches and medians from this regulation because no kids play there and obviously we're talking about safety here,"Dobrowolski said.

Since there are rules in place that restrict pesticide use near waterways,Dobrowolskithinksusing pesticides isn't a serious risk of contamination.He saidcommon sense must be used.

Dobrowolski uses Steinbachas an example, saying that the town previously spent $15,000 annually on pesticides but under the new regulations, it costs the community $237,000 to keep weeds under control because new products are much less effective and need to be applied more frequently.

The province is overstepping its bounds by banning cosmetic pesticides,since federal agencies continue toallowtheir use, Dobrowolski said.

In addition to being a cosmetic concern,Dobrowolskitold CBC that it is also a health concern for people that suffer fromallergies.

"We want a community that looks attractive, to attract people to our communities," he said.