There are a number of people who use ornamental pesticides regularly in the Village of New Maryland. Myself and many others have been trying to ban these products for many years and the Village council keeps voting against these measures. More than 180 other municipalities across Canada have enacted bans or restrictions of these products. It's time for the Village of New Maryland to join them.

Some of the unique safety and environmental concerns specific to New Maryland make this an important issue. Baseball and soccer fields have been sprayed where children play. Many subdivisions do not have sidewalks, making avoiding sprayed properties a traffic/safety hazard. Many subdivisions share community drainage ditches, where contaminated water from these pesticide applications can flow into nearby wooded areas and creeks. Almost all of these products are known/suspected carcinogens, teratogens, sex hormone inhibitors in wild life and are known to cause many health problems to the wildlife (especially aquatic wildlife).

Please do the right thing and vote to ban these life-destroying products.