A group of student protestors showed up at city hall on Monday.
The students were wearing hazmat suits to send a message about the city's use of pesticides.
The group is calling on the city to stop their use in parks and public places.
They also brought a petition signed by 1,500 students from a variety of schools around Calgary.
More than 300 students also phoned their aldermen urging them to pass the pesticide use bylaw.
"There is a strong link between going into fields with pesticides and cancer. And it's very bad for the environment because it goes into waterways and it goes into animals," says Walter Pang, a protestor.
On Monday, city council went through five motions dealing with Calgary's rules for pesticides. The first four motions passed, but the motion asking for a ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides failed by a vote of eight to seven.
Alderman John Mar cast the deciding vote against the key recommendation that could have eventually led to a pesticide ban. "I voted for all the recommendations except for the one that suggests we move to an outright ban and that's what I've communicated throughout the entire process."
Alderman Brian Pincott is expressing disappointment about Monday's vote. "It wasn't saying that we were going to eliminate right away, the point was we would eventually eliminate these chemicals."
Also disappointed by the defeat are environmental groups as well as the Canadian Cancer Society. "We know that everything is increasingly showing a connection between cancer and pesticides and because there's no benefit to the increasing use of pesticides," says Evi Rodway, a spokesperson for the cancer society.
A revised version of the pesticide bylaw will return to council on December 2nd. It promises more public education on the use of the chemicals.
