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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
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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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