Council can’t wash hands of issue

Charlottetown city council attempted to wash their hands of cosmetic pesticides. But they failed. Accountability entirely resides with this present council.

It was this council who created their cosmetic pesticides bylaw. They then held a public forum for input. Everyone who spoke supported their initial bylaw. Except for Rob Gallant, a proponent of cosmetic pesticides, who owns Atlantic Graduate Lawn Care and Pest Control. His wife is Coun. Melissa Hilton.

Council proceeded by unanimously passing their bylaw’s first reading. Then the situation got exceedingly muddied by a disjointed series of events which included the lack of leadership, team work, communication, ethics and rules of order. Grandstanding grew contentiously rampant.

Council made a mockery of their request to the Province to obtain legislative power to initiate a ban, their election promises, their action to get the bylaw passed, and their last-ditch feeble effort to hand the legislative power back to the Province when they knew full well the Province had already firmly said no.

They dishonoured their unanimously passing of the Blue Dot Municipal Declaration of Environmental Rights by not walking their talk.

They left themselves with dirty hands, which require cleansing. Charlottetown council’s mandate is to govern its own jurisdiction within its power to do so. To uphold their integrity. And to effectively work at passing bylaws which are the will of the majority of its citizens. These citizens are waiting with concern for council to clean up their act. Maria Eisenhauer, Charlottetown