Pesticide Issue Update - November 2013

By Jerry Rousseau

The BC Ministry of Environment released proposed IPM Act regulatory changes to stakeholders and the general public on October 9th.  We of course immediately forwarded the announcement to all WCTA members and allied stakeholders with encouragement to read the Intentions Paper and submit any comments/questions by the December 8th deadline.   It was noted that the implementation timeframe for the proposed regulatory revisions is relatively short with the Ministry intending to have changes enacted in two stages between 2014 and 2015.

Trevor Smith, AGA-BC President stated in a follow-up article, “At that meeting we were able to review the proposed changes with the Minister and her staff, engage in active discussion and agree to be forthcoming with further recommendations.  One of those recommendations was to create a separate category for golf courses.”  He went on to say, “The representatives of the Environmental Advocacy Committee all felt that the meeting was very positive and look forward to a very healthy relationship going forward.”

About a week later, Bob Lucy, BC’s Provincial Pesticide Licence Officer and the WCTA contact for the CEC point program, contacted me to ask if committee members would be interested in setting up a meeting to have MOE staff fully explain the proposed regulatory changes.  The rarity of such an opportunity cannot be overstated and we graciously accepted the invitation!

Said meeting was scheduled for November 28th, still a full three weeks away at the time of writing this article.  We look forward to providing our membership a full report.  For updates and further information, please visit www.wcta-online.com