Pesticides

Free admission and parking!

The documentary tells the story of Dr. June Irwin, a dermatologist from Hudson, Quebec, who noticed a connection between her patient’s health conditions and their exposure to pesticides and herbicides.  As a lone voice in 1984,  followed by a voyage to the Supreme Court of Canada, her home town of Hudson, Quebec became the first municipality in Canada to adopt a municipal bylaw banning the cosmetic or non-essential use of pesticides in 1991. Dr. June Irwin’s relentless 7-year struggle inspired one of the most powerful and effective community initiatives in the history of North America and the making of, “A Chemical Reaction”.  As of December 31, 2010 almost half of Canada’s population is protected by provincial pesticide bylaws in Quebec and Ontario and 175 Canadian municipalities have adopted their own urban pesticide bylaws.  Calgary is the largest municipality in Canada without a pesticide bylaw protecting its citizens and the environment against adverse health consequences of non-essential pesticide use. Work is ongoing to develop a pesticide bylaw in Calgary. Dr. Warren Bell, founder of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), will lead discussion, post film. Read more about Film Screening: “A Chemical Reaction”

Please come and join us for bi-monthly pesticide-free meeting.

Roughly 87% of Albertans support a pesticide-free law. Despite this support, pesticide use has increased in the province to from 36% in 1994 to 39% in 2005 (Canadian Cancer Society). A pesticide ban in the city of Edmonton would eliminate the use of cosmetic use of pesticides within city limits and reduce the risk of: non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Read more about Pesticide-Free Meeting

Celebrating Calgary's First Pesticide-Free Park

New Edinborough Park is now famous across Alberta for being the first Calgary park to go pesticide-free and providing the impetus for the city to phase out cosmetic pesticides. Read more about Fourth Annual Party in THE Park