Though it might be possible, it may not be easy. In Ontario, if your cottage is adjacent to Crown land, you could check first with your nearest branch of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), suggests Joe Johnson, area forester with the MNR's Parry Sound office. Spraying on Crown land is the MNR's responsibility, but Johnson adds that there's been no spraying near dwellings in the area administered by his office (which includes Dunchurch) for more than 20 years.

However, most pesticide sprayings occur privately, when a property owner or group of owners hires a spray contractor. If any have taken place on or adjacent to your property while you've owned it, you couldn't help knowing about them. Contractors are required to notify all owners in the vicinity of an impending spray, either by advertising in local media 30 days and 10 days ahead, or (more usually) by posting a generous number of signs in prominent locations around the area to be sprayed. Every owner who is sprayed must sign on to the program, explains Johnson and, if there are dissenters, the contractors must avoid those properties.

"We don't touch a property unless we have written permission from the landowner and adjacent owners," confirms Jim Standard, owner of Standard AG Helicopter Inc. "If adjacent owners don't agree, we leave buffer zones to prevent spray drift onto their properties."

Since spray contractors are licensed and regulated by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and there tend to be a limited number working in any one area, Johnson suggests it might be possible to track down the history of spraying in your vicinity by checking with previous owners, cottage neighbours, and the contractors themselves. "If I knew the lot, concession, and township, it wouldn't be hard to check my records," says Standard, who sprayed 200-300 acres in the Parry Sound area last year. Though the MOE requires contractors to keep their spray records for two years, Standard routinely keeps his for seven years.