New contract after more study

Gatineau’s mosquito program to expire shortly

The contract for Gatineau’s mosquito control program ends this year. The city will go to tender in coming months and will take the opportunity to study complaints regarding mosquitoes and look at the perimeter being sprayed.

Today, seven areas across Gatineau are sprayed to reduce mosquitoes. Most are along the Rivière Blanche and near
wetlands.

Residents had requested this service, which started in 1996. Residents pay on a user-pays principle; their tax bill increases when their area is sprayed. According to the city, fewer residents have requested this service in the last three years.

The biopesticide being used in Gatineau is Bti, short for Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis. This natural product was uncovered in Israel’s Negev Desert, hence the name “israelensis”; “Israel” for the country and “ensis”, Latin for “originating in.”

It is said to be non-toxic and that the product only affects mosquitoes and blackflies and not the flora and fauna. The product is sprayed on water to attack larvae and, more specifically, the larva’s digestive tract.

The areas being sprayed, most in the Gatineau sector, are: Pointe-Gatineau, Carrefour-de-l'Hôpital, du Versant, de Bellevue, du Lac-Beauchamp, de la Rivière-Blanche and Masson-Angers.

The city asks residents to help by eliminating any stagnant water in receptacles and regularly cleaning roof and street gutters to ensure they don’t clog and hold water. Residents can also empty the water from flowerpot saucers, animal bowls, wading pools and so on. For those with decorative ponds, the city suggests purchasing fish who eat mosquito larvae.