Elsewhere in the world, death and taxes may be the only two certain things in life - but here in Winnipeg (at least in the summertime), that list also includes mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes are the bane of our hot-weather enjoyment. We curse them. We slap at them. And every year, sure as potholes in spring, we engage in a vociferous civic debate on how exactly to go about dealing with them.

For some, the answer is malathion - an insecticide that's been used for decades to control mosquitoes, and one Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency insists is safe, provided it's applied in ultra-low volume doses.

The problem, of course, is that to others, malathion is a toxic nerve gas with unknown long-term health effects, and a rather ineffective way to deal with our mosquito problem, to boot, since any modicum of relief it provides lasts only a few days, anyway.

The rift between the two camps has caused a fair bit of local drama in the past, and the appearance of West Nile Virus in our province several years ago has added a new nuance to the annual dispute; namely, that mosquitoes are now a big, scary public-health threat.

It's a slightly specious argument, although one that shrewd bug-repellent companies have effectively exploited - while four human deaths were attributed to West Nile last year, 501 of Manitoba's 587 cases manifested as "non-neurological syndrome," which is classified by non-life threatening symptoms such as fever, headaches, nausea and/or rashes.

West Nile Virus has yet to make an appearance this season, but on June 27, the city's fogging program began anyway in an effort to reduce the number of "nuisance mosquitoes" - an apt name if I've ever heard one - and interestingly, there's been little to no public outcry and/or resistance to it.

Instead, the loudest howls of anguish have come from the opposite direction, in response to last Thursday's announcement by Taz Stuart, our city's beleaguered entomologist, that fogging would be suspended until city trap-count averages hit 100.

Coun. Harry Lazarenko took Stuart and his department to task - a rant reported in all its glory by the Winnipeg Sun - while local Internet forums buzzed with anger and incredulousness.

Poor Taz. Not only is the man caught between a rock and a hard place (you really can't please all the people all the time), he presented his unpopular course of action on TV while wearing a Saskatchewan Roughriders shirt - a bad political move, even if he is from Regina.

A mere two days after it was stopped, fogging began again, and at press time, Winnipeg's Insect Control Branch assured us it will continue until further notice on a daily basis. Point, pro-malathioners.

I'm still unsure where I stand on the issue of fogging, but given that the situation is destined to repeat itself forever, I do find it strange that we haven't been able to come up with other, less divisive solutions to our mosquito woes.

For example, every year, Winnipeg holds a city-wide composter sale, offering citizens the chance to buy one of the environmentally friendly devices at a drastically discounted price. Couldn't we do the same with some of the non-chemical mosquito-related products currently on the market? Citronella comes to mind, as does Mosquito Barrier, a relatively new, all-natural product derived from garlic juice.

A different approach may not remove all the animosity that surrounds the issue, but it's certainly worth a try.