The sale of glyphosate-based pesticides will be banned in Granby next June. This makes this Eastern Township community the second city in the province, after Montreal, to have this herbicide on the index.
Posted at 5:00 am
“We saw what was in Montreal, so we took inspiration from that, but the goal really was to be consistent with our current regulations,” Granby Mayor Julie Bourdon said in a phone interview.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
The Mayor of Granby, Julie Bourdon
Granby, like many other municipalities, has banned the use of synthetic pesticides for aesthetic purposes for several years. These include herbicides based on glyphosate, an ingredient found in several products, including products sold under the Roundup brand.
The sales ban was added “at the request of citizens” who asked if Granby could “follow what happened in Montreal and stop the sale of glyphosate in Granby stores,” explains Ms Bumblebee.
In Montreal, glyphosate-based products have been banned from retail shelves since last year, a first in Quebec.
In Granby, the regulation, which aims to ban “the sale or offering for sale of a pesticide whose active ingredient is glyphosate”, was the subject of a motion notice to local council last Monday. Adoption is scheduled for the February 6 board meeting, with entry into force on June 1.
It corresponds to concerns from the point of view of “health and environmental protection,” says the mayor.
“We want to act and we act”
A dozen businesses are attacked in Granby. A letter will be sent to you “very quickly” that checks are planned for the summer that can lead to insults, the city administration specifies.
In Montreal, 14 of the 65 companies affected by the new pesticide regulation received a violation notice in spring 2022. They had 48 hours to remove the products from the shelves. Subsequent visits found them to be in compliance, the city told us last summer.
The Granbyens will continue to be able to buy herbicides that are banned in neighboring towns, the mayor acknowledges. “We know we are not a desert island. But at the same time, can we tell ourselves that we don’t want to do anything? That is also the question. We want to act and we act. »
Exceptions are also provided in Granby itself for retail businesses for agricultural or industrial purposes (B1 permit) and wholesalers (A permit). “It represents two companies that have special permits to sell to farmers. These aren’t supermarkets that cater to Mr. and Mrs. Everybody,” stresses Mrs. Bourdon.
The use of synthetic pesticides for aesthetic purposes has been banned in Granby since 2016. Only expert-certified infestations can be the subject of an application for a temporary use permit, and only after unsuccessful use of organic or low-impact pesticides.
In the past two years, six insults and 33 warnings have been issued, the community informed us.
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6 Number of criminal complaints issued by Granby in the past two years in relation to its pesticides regulations. They resulted in a $1,000 fine and five $200 fines. A seventh report is awaiting publication.
Source: City of Granby