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terloo city council is calling Wn upper tiers of government to look into the safety of the pesticides being used on lawns across the country. Coun. lan McLean‘s motion asking both the provincial and federal governâ€" ments to immediately review and conâ€" firm the safety and efficacy of all chemiâ€" cal pesticides they have approved was unanimously accepted by city council on Monday night. "There‘s a lot of fear and concern about these chemicals and their impact on the elderly, children, pets and water," McLean said in an interview. "I think they‘re legitimate things we should be concerned about." The federal government approves the chemicals, while the province OKs them for sale and usage, giving those two levels of government more ability than the city to pass an enforceable regâ€" ulation or law, he said. This move comes after Waterloo regional council recently voted against implementing a yearâ€"round pesticide ban in Waterloo as part of a pilot project the city supports. The existing regional pesticide reduction bylaw prohibits pesticide use in July and August. _ 0 â€" Although regional council voted against the pilot project, it has left the doors open for Waterloo to enact and enforce its own bylaw. Council calls on province and | [ feds to take action on pesticides J McLean, meanwhile, believes the best way to go is to encourage the Ontario Liberal government to legislate cosmetic pesticides as it promised to do during the recent election campaign. If the municipality enacts its own bylaw, he told council, it takes on the financial responsibilities associated with that as well. "I‘ve said this before, if we‘re going to pass something in Waterloo, we better be sure we‘re going to put the money and the resources (aside) to actually enforce it." But Coun. Mark Whaley said it‘s a mistake for the city to think other levels of government will solve Waterloo‘s pesâ€" ticide problems. "It‘s Waterloo‘s problem to deal with, Justice of the Peace Calvin Hurst heard the guilty plea from Maxtechâ€" Manufacturing Inc., a firm specializing in production of machined metal comâ€" ponents. On June 15, 2006, a worker was using a cam bracket cell machine, used to bore into machine parts. The workâ€" er‘s hand came into contact with movâ€" ing parts. A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the machine could be operâ€" ated while a safety cover was open. The ability of the machine to be operated in that way was contrary to Section 24 of Regulation 851. Maxtech was fined for failing, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed were carâ€" ried out. In addition to the fines, the court imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge on the total, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. Waterloo firm fined $70,000 for accident By Jennirer Ormston Chronicle Staff and while I can appreciate the imporâ€" tance of asking the province to do as they said they‘ll do, this battle over pesâ€" ticides is our battle to fight and our batâ€" tle to win." Finding a "madeâ€"inâ€"Waterioo soluâ€" tion" to pesticides is the way to go for Coun. Karen Scian, who also sees the merits of this motion. "Eighty per cent of cosmetic pestiâ€" cide usage could be taken care of with a ban on lawnâ€"care companies. The rest needs to be tidied up as well, and this This motion is only one of the initia tives the city is taking in terms of pesti cide use. A plan city staff presented to council in October outlining the possibility of Waterloo implementing its own bylaw will come back to council for debate. {motion) is a way to do it," she said And Mayor Brenda Halloran asked council to consider her proposal to conâ€" tact the province about making Waterâ€" loo the site of a pilot project banning cosmetic pesticide use. www.waterloochronicle.ca WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, November 7, 2007 * 11