The ban would outlaw, with limited exceptions, the use of chemicals to control weeds and insects in parks, picnic areas, sports fields, golf courses, school and hospital grounds, the Meewasin Valley, care facilities and private yards.

 The ban would not include the sale of pesticide.

 "Legal to buy, illegal to use. It's a bit of a problem," admits Tom Wolf, vice-chair of the city's environmental advisory committee.

 The committee drafted the bylaw framework at the request of the city's administration and finance committee and discussed it for the first time Thursday. To become law, both that committee and city council would have to approve it.

 City administration is now evaluating the proposed pesticide ban to determine enforcement costs before public debate resumes.

 The ban would begin with a grace period of public education and warnings. In its first year, the city would enforce the ban on its own property, such as parks and sports fields.

 In the second year, other locations such as private golf courses and hospitals would become subject to the ban. In the third year, homeowners would have to give up spraying.

 The ban would not limit residents from applying pesticides inside their homes.

 Montreal enacted a pesticide ban on Tuesday, joining roughly 60 other Canadian municipalities.

 The ban would still allow spraying in Saskatoon under certain conditions, such as in cases when health and safety are affected (verified by a medical health officer) or pests are causing economic loss (verified by the city). Those exemptions may cover fogging for mosquitoes in case of a West Nile virus outbreak, for example.

 Permits would only be issued at certain times of the summer and under optimal weather conditions. To warrant a permit, pests also have to reach a certain threshold that the environment committee hasn't defined.

 "A single dandelion is not inherently a pest," Wolf said.

 A pesticide ban should follow extensive public consultation, the committee suggests. But it's bound to be controversial.

 "It's doomed for failure," said Spencer Early, president of Early's Farm & Garden Centre, after sitting in on the environmental committee's presentation. "Horrible idea."

 Early predicts people would continue to buy pesticide despite the ban against using it.

 At the other end of the spectrum, the board of Saskatoon Community Clinic recently wrote to Mayor Don Atchison, urging council to ban pesticides.

 Pesticides are linked to chronic illness and cancer, wrote Cheryl Loadman, president of Community Health Services Association.

 "Children are particularly vulnerable to pesticides because of their rate of growth and habits such as playing barefoot," she wrote.

 The Ontario College of Family Physicians last year linked pesticide exposure to cancer, reproductive problems and neurological diseases.

 City administrators present at the pesticide ban presentation raised concerns.

 "I could see residents calling in and inundating administration with requests (for permits)," said utilities manager Murray Totland.

 It would be up to the city to decide how much to charge for a pesticide permit fee. The environment committee suggests the city hire students in summer to respond to permit requests.

 Although a task force of the environmental advisory committee drafted the bylaw's framework, its support of a ban is mixed at best. The environment committee had recommended last September that the city beef up its education campaign instead of banning pesticides, but councillors on the administration and finance committee asked for the ban instead.

 "I want to see a balanced approach," said environment committee member Lawrence Pinter.