Pesticide Protest

Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 12:15:09 -0300 (ADT)
From: "David M. Wimberly" <ag487@chebucto.ns.ca>
To: Sustainable-Maritimes <sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca>
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <sust-mar-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>

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The protest has brought more attention to this matter, now we need your help.
Please telephone and write to your MLAs urging them to pass Bill 1 which 
contains the legislation needed.  We need people from all across NS to 
do this, not just people from the HRM area, since all NS MLAs will vote on 
this bill.  Please urge them to ensure this Bill 1 gets passed during 
this sitting of the Legislature.  It has been put off far too long.

Thanks,
David Wimberly

     _________________________________________________________________
   Saturday, June 20, 1998
   
   Protesters bug premier about pesticide dangers
   
   By DAVID RODENHISER -- The Daily News
   
   Pesticide protesters pestered the premier yesterday.
   
   The Raging Grannies sang, and 40 placard carriers chanted outside
   Province House, demanding the Grit government pass amendments to the
   Halifax Regional Municipality Act to empower the city to restrict
   pesticide use.
   
   The specific amendment is one of a number of changes suggested in a
   bill tabled by Halifax-Chebucto NDP MLA Howard Epstein last month. The
   bill would restore powers the four old municipalities lost through the
   wording of the amalgamation legislation.
   
   Many of the protesters carried fake lawn-care company signs, which
   read: "No pesticides: I love my family and the environment more than
   my lawn.'' The signs were on sale for $5 apiece.
   
   Using a public-address system, demonstrators decried lawn-care
   chemicals, and questioned why the Liberals are again sitting on the
   proposed amendments. Last year, Jay Abbass, then the Liberal MLA for
   Halifax-Chebucto, tabled the same bill, but it died on the order
   paper.
   
   Premier Russell MacLellan stepped outside to try to pacify the crowd.
   In the past, he has been able to defuse angry mobs of trade unionists,
   injured workers and jail guards. But yesterday his unfocused comments
   failed miserably with a crowd composed mainly of women.
   
   "I know you're concerned on this question,'' MacLellan offered. "We
   have to, of course, consult with the province. We have to find out how
   we're going to work on this.
   
   "I can't make any promises as to any timeframe, other than to tell you
   the environment is a concern of mine - the whole question - and that
   we will be looking into it.''
   
   A man yelled from the crowd: "You're a hypocrite!''
   
   Replied the premier: "Well, that could be. That's the way she goes.''
   
   He said he wouldn't negotiate government business on the steps of the
   legislature, then retreated inside.
   
   Maureen Reynolds, director of RATE (Real Alternatives to Toxins in the
   Environment), said she wonders what "hidden agenda'' prevents
   MacLellan from bringing the bill forward.
   
   Reynolds has severe chemical sensitivities that require her to leave
   her home for days when her neighbors have their lawns sprayed.
   
   "I've been left with chemical epilepsy where I shake and fall to the
   ground when I encounter any other chemicals,'' Reynolds said. She also
   blames pesticides for a host of health problems.
   
   Reynolds and other protesters argued lawn-care companies use chemicals
   linked to various forms of cancer. They said contractors spray
   chemicals on residential lawns that farmers avoid using near
   watercourses, because of the danger they pose.
   
   Another RATE member, Connie Eaton, said lawn-care chemicals killed her
   dog. After a neighbor's lawn was sprayed, Eaton says her dog gradually
   lost the use of its legs.
   
   "By the end of the day, he couldn't stand up .... After two days he
   had to be euthanized,'' Eaton said. "If pesticides are affecting our
   dogs, we can be sure they're going to be affecting our children and
   our older people, like myself."
     _________________________________________________________________
     _________________________________________________________________

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