Don’t eat the grass — yet

Fight to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides has been a lesson in patience and politics for Robin McLeod
Originally published in FFWD March 13, 2008 by Drew Anderson in Activist Guide


If you walk through some city parks at certain times in spring and summer, you will see yellow signs dotting the ground, warning you of the chemicals sprayed on the grass, a nice colour contrast to the perfectly green lawns and an ironic backdrop to the geese unknowingly consuming the tainted grass. Though not in it as much for the geese as the people warned off by the signs, Robin McLeod, with the Coalition for a Healthy Calgary, has been fighting for a ban on cosmetic use of pesticides for a little over two years.

“The focus is that we feel these chemicals to make people’s lawns lovely and weedless and green are really unnecessary, and the potential for medical problems is significant in terms of endocrine disruption, neurological disorders, behavioural disorders, certain types of cancers,” says McLeod.

“It’s very similar to second-hand smoke — we as citizens have no control over that, except it affects us. You’re next-door neighbour is a weed fanatic, and so he’s out there doing a pesticide spray. I get that drift in my yard, my kids might be over there playing, what control do I have? I have none.”

McLeod is working to wrest some control back through her work in the coalition. This work has paid off, at least in terms of the slow-moving machinery of city hall. On February 25, a motion was presented to council asking it to consider a bylaw phasing out use of cosmetic pesticides. If all goes according to plan, the issue could be before a committee by June.

It has been a solid lesson in patience and city politics for McLeod, who has concerns about the report being written by those that support selective use of pesticides. She also worries about the shifting attitudes of aldermen.

“It’s very interesting, because prior to the election we surveyed all the candidates running for alderman and mayor — 11 of the 14 candidates that were elected as aldermen said they would support a bylaw phasing out cosmetic use of pesticides. It was a yes or no question,” she says, adding that if there had been a vote on the question on February 25, the ban would likely have been voted down. “What does that say about the aldermen?”

Originally from north of Toronto, McLeod had grandparents in Calgary, and found her way to the mountains of Lake Louise in 1978, before moving on to the city in 1981. Highly involved in activist issues for the last 20 years, she calls herself “half-legitimate” as a Calgarian, but has been working hard to prove her full status by watching out for the city she calls home.

As the director of civic affairs for the South Calgary Community Association, McLeod is also busy fighting for the character of her community and the diversity that makes it possible; something under threat in many established neighbourhoods.

“We are the busiest community in terms of development permits in the entire city of Calgary, so we have a chance to shape our city, shape our community and not be overrun by developers. They want to make a profit, but we’ve got to consider the community and keeping its character and keeping it a welcome place for all income levels, for all ages,” says McLeod.

She has also worked on issues to protect water quality in the lower Elbow River and prevent the degradation of Sandy Beach, River Park and the Britannia escarpment that line the Elbow valley in the city’s southwest, just under the reservoir.

Asked if it is as exhausting as it all sounds, she doesn’t flinch. “Somehow if you feel strongly about your opportunities and trying to make a great city, you find the energy.”

With that energy, McLeod and the Coalition will continue fighting for a healthier Calgary even if their pesticide ban is successful, likely focusing on other issues that affect the health of Calgarians

In the meantime, it is simply an issue of doing what activists do best: getting the message out to the public and the politicos.

“We’re not calling for a total ban of pesticides when it comes to threats to public health, we’re not touching the farming community, so it is really just toxins used to make your green grass look lovely. We need to let people know there are other ways of getting there. They may be a little more time-intensive, but in the long run it’s worth it,” she says.