Tantramar’s new manager of active living and culture made a pitch to council on Monday, asking them to support an application to have Tantramar recognized as a Bee City community, by the Bee City Canada initiative. The group recognizes municipalities, indigenous communities, schools, campuses and other organizations across Canada who are taking actions to protect and promote pollinators.
Jamie Ferguson told councillors on Monday that pollinators are important ecologically, and also for human food. “They provide a lot of services across the board for agriculture, for our natural environment,” said Ferguson. And they are, “faced with a lot of threats through pesticide use, through habitat degradation and invasive species.”
Though many think of honey bees as key pollinators, Ferguson pointed out that honey bees don’t pollinate many native plants, “so there is a huge push right now to protect our native wild bees as well,” said Ferguson.
Sackville has a good baseline understanding of its native bee population, said Ferguson, thanks to recent work by Mount Allison researcher Dr. Emily Austen.
Austen is “wrapping up a two year study on Sackville wild bees,” said Ferguson, which has identified 21 different genus of bee, “spread between our wetlands at the waterfowl Park and our storm retention ponds, as well as just local community gardens in people’s backyards.”
“So we do have quite a thriving population here,” said Ferguson. “The designation [of Bee City community] would show our commitment as a leader both in environmental stewardship by protecting our pollinators and the critical role that they provide.”
In order to get Tantramar designated, Ferguson told council they would need to adopt a resolution committing the municipality to three main actions summed up as “create, educate, celebrate.”
Creating new pollinator habitat could include maintaining and enhancing existing areas, said Ferguson. “It also means putting into effect pesticide by-laws, which the town of Sackville has,” said Ferguson. That by-law, passed in 2006, targets cosmetic use of pesticides in former Sackville town limits, and set parameters for when pesticides can be used. Ferguson says council could look at extending the bylaw to all of Tantramar.
The educate component of Bee City designation could happen through Tantramar’s programming. “In partnership with our community partners, we could look at doing talks and various kind of events throughout the year promoting pollinators, and educating through our summer programs, Trailblazers, those sorts of things,” said Ferguson.
And finally, Bee City communities commit to celebrate Pollinator Week, ideally every June, “just to kind of celebrate all that is pollinators and the importance that they provide,” said Ferguson.
Questions from council on pesticide by-law and targets
Council sent the resolution on to the consent agenda for its next meeting on June 10, but not before a couple councillors weighed in with possible concerns. Councillor Barry Hicks was concerned at the prospect of extending Sackville’s pesticide bylaw to the rest of the amalgamated municipality.
“We have to take into consideration now that Tantramar is a big area, there’s a lot of blueberry producers and stuff in our [former Local Service Districts],” said Hicks. And those producers sometimes use pesticides in blueberry fields.
But Ferguson told Hicks that the goal was not an outright ban on pesticides, but rather an extension of the existing Sackville bylaw passed in 2006, which is focussed on cosmetic pesticides.
“They’re not looking for an outright ban,” said Ferguson. “Just, I think, that smart use of pesticides, and not that cosmetic use to get rid of our dandelions and things like that in our backyards.”
Councillor Matt Estabrooks asked about the extent of the measures and targets that Bee City designation could commit the municipality to, and Ferguson said there are no specific targets, but rather “it’s just what’s feasible for the municipality.”
“I think as long as we’re showing growth and interest in what we’re offering under those three categories–create, educate and celebrate–that just shows an ongoing commitment to promoting and protecting pollinators across the municipality.”
In response to a question from councillor Bruce Phinney, Ferguson said there were a number of groups in the region that could partner with the municipality on its Bee city targets, including the Sackville Community Garden, EOS Eco Energy, Dr. Emily Austin of Mount A, and local schools.
Ferguson said the Bee City Canada initiative has designated over 180 communities across Canada, but if Tantramar were to join, it would be the first in New Brunswick, and the second or third in Atlantic Canada.
Council is expected to vote on the resolution on June 10.
