Cynthia King

MLA proposing provincial ombudsman

Posted by Cyn | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 30-11-2009

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TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian

A backbench MLA is putting together a private member’s bill proposing to create an ombudsman for the P.E.I. government.
P.E.I. is currently the only province without such an ombudsman, but Stratford-Kinlock MLA Cynthia Dunsford would like to see that rectified.
“(The ombudsman) could take on a lot of different inquiries and different complaints that people might have,” Dunsford said.
“Those calls or complaints can be categorized into alternate kinds of actions that could be taken to help people, which an ombudsman would be able to do very effectively.”
A similar private member’s bill was introduced 10 years ago by former NDP MLA Herb Dickieson. It did not pass but was debated extensively in the legislature and in the end did win the support of seven MLAs in a vote of 13-7. Several members abstained from voting on the issue.
The concerns raised at the time revolved around whether an ombudsman would change the role of MLAs in their dealings with the public.
Dunsford, who has been doing extensive research into the policies enacted by other provinces, said she does not believe such a figure would call into question the role of elected politicians on P.E.I.
Islanders are infamous for calling their MLAs for complaints or concerns both big and small, and that will not change with the addition of an ombudsman, Dunsford said.
“We are always going to get those calls and that’s fine because people generally just need direction and we may be able to help them and that’s a good thing,” she said.
“But there are areas that an MLA should not be looking into or can’t look into. There are limitations to what we can do and how we can help and it’s very frustrating as an MLA and somebody calls you with an issue that you can’t really get involved in because it would be something that would be seen as interference — because we’re political figures, we’re not bureaucrats.”
The addition of a provincial government ombudsman was a promise made by the Liberals during the 2007 election campaign, but on Thursday Premier Robert Ghiz said such a new position would be an added expense the province may not be able to afford right now.
But he didn’t rule it out as a future possibility.
“As we know, there was a bit of a financial downturn in the world economy over the last year or so,” Ghiz said.
“This probably won’t be happening this year, but we’ll definitely be looking for it for the year after as a definite possibility.”
Dunsford said her private member’s bill is not ready to be tabled during this session of the legislature anyway, as she is still conducting research and comparing the practices and policies of ombudsman in other provinces.
“This is something that will still require a fair bit of work,” she said.

Cosmetic Pesticide Ban for PEI on its way!

Posted by Cyn | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 13-11-2009

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ladybuglogo

THIS is good news!! Congratulations and thank you to the PEI Chapter of the Canadian Cancer Society and The PEI Environmental Health Coalition. Without your help this would not have happened.

TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian

Use of certain dangerous cosmetic pesticides will soon be banned when the province introduces its new Pesticide Control Act during the fall session of the legislature.

The fall session officially opened Thursday with the speech from the throne. It included details of a proposed law to ban a number of lawn pesticides and ensure that others are used by only trained commercial operators under certain conditions.

Environment Minister Richard Brown said this new law will disallow use of the controversial chemical 2,4-D by consumers and landscape companies on lawns. It will be allowed on golf courses, but this will be closely monitored and audited by provincial officers.

“People will compare this law to Ontario’s but in Ontario there’s tons and tons of extensions,” Brown said.

“This law will ban any chemical that has 2,4-D in it – it will be gone from lawns on Prince Edward Island.”

Trained commercial operators will be allowed to use other lawn pesticides, but any workers who apply chemicals will have to complete a special course. They will also be closely monitored by the environment department and will have to let government know every time they use chemicals.

“They’re going to have to be certified. They’re going to have to register what lawns they’re doing and we’re going to be doing audits, and if they abuse that they’ll lose their privileges,” Brown said.

He believes the province is taking the lead in the region with this legislation and believes it will be implemented before New Brunswick implements similar lawn pesticide legislation.

People across the province have been asking for more regulations for chemical pesticide use, and the province is acting on those concerns, Brown said.

“One of the biggest complaints we get in the department is, ‘The guy next door or the person down the street is spraying his lawn and it’s affecting my health, it’s affecting my children’s health and we want it stopped.’ We’ve listened to that.” Brown said.

“There are other processes that can be used out there instead of using 2,4-D and chemicals that will hurt you. It may take a little bit more work to do it, but I believe it’s possible and necessary.”