WHAT YOU AND I CAN DO
 Banish toxic pesticides from our property, making it safe for people,
birds, bees, and pets.
 Cherish Diversity: Enjoy an interesting lawn of various plants.
 Dig the dandelions and EAT them. Call Catherine at 569-7699 for
suggestions.
 Have a healthy lawn: mow high, dig out weeds, aerate (poke holes),
leave grass clippings on for nutrients. (For more information see
City of Regina pamphlet All the Dirt on Healthy Lawns.)
Alternatively, plant non-grass ground covers.
 Speak out about our concern about pesticides at work places, health
centres, senior homes, daycare centres, and schools.
 Contact Regina City Councillors, asking them to expand the
pesticide-free parks and to add Regina to the growing “pesticide-free
cities” movement.
 Contact the Regina-Qu'Appelle Medical Officer of Health, Dr.
Maurice Hennink ( maurice.hennink@rqhealth.ca), urging that
Regina-Qu’Appelle Health Region follow Saskatoon Health
Region’s lead.
 Urge the Government of Saskatchewan to follow other provinces
and ban chemical cosmetic pesticides. Let the government know that
a ban will save on health care expenses!
Premier Brad Wall: 787-9433 or premier@gov.sk.ca
Minister of the Environment, Dustin Duncan: 787-0393 or
dduncan@mla.legassembly.sk.ca
 Support the Saskatchewan Network for Alternatives to Pesticides–
SNAP (www.snapinfo.ca) and the Saskatchewan Environmental
Society (http://www.environmentalsociety.ca/).
GO GREEN!
LIVE HEALTHY WITHOUT PESTICIDES
MAKING PEACE VIGIL
EVERY THURSDAY
until
breaks out
from 12:00 noon to 12:30 pm
on Scarth Street at 11th Avenue
EVERYONE IS WELCOME
For further information please contact
Florence Stratton: florence.stratton@uregina.ca
Catherine Verrall: cfverrall@yahoo.ca
On the web: http://makingpeace.wordpress.com
MAKING PEACE VIGIL July 7 2011
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With pesticides and herbicides?
Then it’s illness and death you sow!
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF PESTICIDES
HOW GREEN DOES OUR GARDEN GROW?
 Children and unborn babies are at high risk for health problems
 Five Canadian provinces have banned pesticides: Quebec, Ontario,
Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. But not
Saskatchewan. In our province it is still legal to use dangerous
pesticides on lawns and gardens.
related to pesticides. These include developmental problems,
lower intelligence scores, birth defects, endocrine disruption,
allergies, asthma, and leukemia, as well as several other types of
cancer. Pesticides drift far on the wind and can be breathed in or
land on toys, garden food, and clothes. They can also be tracked
into the house. Children are particularly vulnerable as their bodies
and brains are still developing and their immune system is
immature. Older children doing active sports breathe in more air
with its burden of toxins.
 Seniors are also at high risk. Immune systems and organ
functions weaken with age. These systems which help the body
deal with toxins are often already overworked by daily
medications. So exposure to pesticides has a more damaging
effect.
 Pesticide exposure damages the same brain areas as those
linked to multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease,
Alzheimers, and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). It is also becoming
clear that pesticides are hormone disrupters. Thus long exposure
to chemical pesticides can cause cancers such as prostate cancer
and other degenerative diseases.
 The birds and the bees are gravely threatened by pesticides.
Bees depend on dandelions, their first spring source of nectar. We
depend on pollination by bees for about one-third of our food.
Birds not only give us joy, they devour mosquitoes. Pets are also
threatened by lawn pesticides, as are many beneficial insects.
“Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of pesticides.
Children eat and drink more per kilogram of body weight than adults.
Their skin is more permeable and their livers do not excrete as
efficiently as adults’. Their hand-to-mouth behaviour increases the
chance of ingestion and their dermal contact is increased because of a
proportionally larger skin surface, and because they play on the
ground outdoors and on the floor indoors.”
Ontario College of Family Physicians 2004
 Over 150 Canadian municipalities have also banned pesticides. But
not Regina. In 2002, a citizen campaign to introduce a ban ended
with City Council voting against it.
 However, in May 2010, City Council did institute a one-year pilot
pesticide reduction project, designating three parks–Gordon Park in
southwest Regina, Al Pickard Park in north Regina, and Queen
Elizabeth II Court in front of City Hall–as pesticide-free.
 In both economic and aesthetic terms, this one-year experiment has
been a success. But rather than expanding the project to all city
parks, City Council has merely extended the “pesticide-free”
designation of the original three parks through 2011.
 Why wait another year to make all of our parks pesticide-free and
thus safe? This is the question raised by the Canadian Cancer
Society which is advocating for all parks in Regina, indeed all
lawns in Saskatchewan, to become pesticide-free.
 Two years ago, the Saskatoon Health Region cut out the use of
herbicides (pesticides that kill plants) on the grounds of hospitals,
to prevent unnecessary toxic exposure to employees, patients, and
visitors. This move is also supported by the Lung Association of
Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses'
Association. Why hasn’t the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region
adopted the same policy?
“Research linking pesticides to serious health issues is
significant and growing. Leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma, breast, brain, prostate, lung, pancreatic, stomach,
kidney and other forms of cancer have all been linked to
pesticides. Learning disorders, reproductive issues and acute
health effects are also associated to pesticides. By eliminating
the non-essential use of pesticides, exposure to these harmful
chemicals will drastically decrease, contributing to better
overall public and environmental health.”
Canadian Cancer Society