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Public Opinion Polls in Canada Pesticides Bug Ottawans: Poll The Ottawa Sun PESTICIDES BUG OTTAWANS: POLL BY SARAH ROGERS, OTTAWA SUN A new poll shows that three out of
four
Ottawa residents believe lawn pesticides pose a threat to In the same poll, an even higher
percentage of Ottawans said pesticides pose a threat to the The Canadian Association of
Physicians
for the Environment (CAPE), who conducted the poll, are "The survey's numbers are very large," said CAPE executive director Gideon Forman. "We're asking city council and the mayor to do what their constituents want." Close to 70 municipalities across the country have already adopted bylaws, including Toronto and Halifax. Forman says an earlier CAPE poll showed that 85% of homeowners in Ottawa do not use pesticides. Of the other 15%, more than half said they would switch to an organic product if they had more information about it. But Forman says that the pesticide
education program the city agreed to implement in 2002 has been NO-PEST FEST TODAY CAPE released its results at City Hall yesterday as part of the launch of the No-Pest Fest music event. The Ottawa Folk Festival is putting on a show today with displays, food and music to raise awareness about pesticide use. "We love the idea of being part of
a worthwhile cause," said Chris White, artistic director of the Visit www.ottawafolk.org for more information. sarah.rogers@ott.sunpub.com ================== Province of Québec: The July 2003 issue of L'Actualité published the results of a CROP (Centre de Recherche sur l'Opinion Publique) public opinion poll on page 15 which said that 87% of Quebecers support the new Pesticide Code's calling for a pesticide ban in three years on private property across Québec. Province of Ontario: On October 31, 2001, Oraclepoll Research Ltd. released an Ontario-wide poll which indicated that 82% of Ontario residents support municipal bylaws restricting the use of cosmetic pesticides on private residential property. Of the 27% who use chemical pesticides 76% said they would very likely stop using them it they were provided with methods on creating a weed free lawn and garden. City of Toronto: Three public opinion polls indicated that between 70 and 80 per cent of Toronto residents support a pesticide by-law. City of Vancouver: Burnaby and New Westminster registered the strongest support with 89.9 per cent of respondents favouring restrictions on the use of lawn and garden pesticides on private property. The City of Vancouver was pegged at 81.1 per cent, followed by Surrey at 80.5 and 81.4 in the Tri-Cities. Support was lowest in Richmond at 72.3 percent The poll was conducted by the Mustel Group who interviewed 500 people in Greater Vancouver between October 1st and 9th, 2003. Results are considered accurate within +/- 4.4 percentage points 95 per cent of the time. City of Ottawa: A staff
report
tabled with Ottawa City Council in December 2002 stated that "61.9
per City of Montreal: A poll
(December 28, 2000) in Montreal showed that "a whopping 88.6 per
cent of Regional Municipality of Halifax:
A
public opinion poll released on November 2, 2002 conducted by ================== Report prepared by The Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention and Cullbridge Marketing and Communications is titled "The Impact of By-Laws and Public Education Programs on Reducing the Cosmetic / Non-Essential, Residential Use of Pesticides: A Best Practices Review" http://www.pestinfo.ca/main/ns/6/doc/15/lang/EN New Research Alert: Reducing Residential Pesticide Use This best practice review studied nine communities in Canada, the United States and Europe that were leaders in reducing their pesticide use. Only those communities that had passed a by- law and supported it with education or made a community agreement were successful in reducing the use of pesticides by a high degree (51-90%). Education and outreach programs alone were less effective. The report, published April 2004, highlights the most promising approaches used by the nine communities. Full Research Alert <http://www.toolsofchange.com/English/CaseStudies/default.asp?ID=117> New Case: Reducing Pesticide Use in Hudson, St. Lazare, and Notre Dame de L'Ile Perrot A combination of by-laws with escalating fines and home visits has enabled a number of small towns in Quebec, Canada to reduce the cosmetic use of pesticides on residential properties by 80 to 90%. Full case study <http://www.toolsofchange.com/English/CaseStudies/default.asp?ID=172> New Case: Halifax Pesticide By-law In 2000, the Halifax Regional Municipality, Canada introduced a Pesticide by-law to reduce the cosmetic use of pesticides on residential and municipal properties. Residents are now required to apply for a permit to use pesticides. Before the permit is given a home- visit is conducted to assess the property and pest problem. At the time of the visit homeowners are provided with a "Sustainable Maintenance Tips" brochure along with the Naturally Green Pesticide "Reducing Pesticide Use" pamphlet. One of the largest municipalities in the world to have achieved a high reduction of residential pesticides. Full case study <http://www.toolsofchange.com/English/CaseStudies/default.asp?ID=1> Courtesy of the Tools of Change Institute (www.toolsofchange.com) which
promotes
best practices Cullbridge Marketing and
Communications e-mail: toolsofchange@cullbridge.com Web site: www.cullbridge.com |
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