Important Newsflash- Urgent Action is required
Bill 208 has just passed second reading and has been sent to committee. This bill sets the stage for clear municipal jurisdiction to pass bylaws prohibiting the use of pesticides as a precautionary measure “regardless of whether the scientific evidence is conclusive or not”. It is very important to protect the responsible use of pesticides to guard against weeds, insects and disease.
We need your help to ensure that every MPP in Ontario receives many phone calls about the passing this amendment. All of us need to take responsibility for making contact.
Please contact your MPP as soon as possible.
Your phone calls should be personal.
You need to talk about your business, the value that it brings to your customers and quality of life and the disastrous effect the bill will have on your livelihood. You should not be reading a script. Your message should be emotional, passionate and heartfelt.
Following are sample messages.
· Bill 208 paves the way for cities to ban the responsible use of pesticides
· The bill will make it difficult for me to control weeds and insects and threatens one of the tools of my trade.
· The bill threatens the jobs of thousands for no good reason
· You need to talk about your own personal circumstances
· Bill 208 will not stop pesticide use because it will still be possible for homeowners to purchase and apply
· Relay the importance of jobs and importance of our industry (be respectful)
· The solution to the controversy is IPM Accreditation
· Go to www.planthealthcare.ca for more information.
Call all MPP’S in ridings you do business in. Tell them how it would affect them personally if they don’t have effective ways to control weeds and insects. Tell them the cost of re-sodding or replanting trees and gardens.
You can find your MPP by going to this website: www.electionsontario.on.ca
The more people you can get to make calls, the better. We want to overwhelm them with passionate but respectful calls.
Having your employees call will add a lot of punch to this campaign.
When you have made your phone calls please send in a report so that we can coordinate provincial effort. Email the report to report@landscapeontario.com
The report should have the following information.
· Date called
· Your sense of whether they are with us or against us
· any other correspondence (meeting, e-mail, letter). (Please note, we will be organizing a structured e-mail, letter
and meeting campaign also)
We need this information to keep track of all MPP’s contacted.
Thank you in advance for making this concerted effort.
Landscape Ontario
Horticultural Trades Association
7856 Fifth Line South,
RR4, Milton, ON
L9T 2X8
1-800-265-5656
www.horttrades.com
lo@horttrades.com
