Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and John Gerretsen felt the best possible evidence was provided by MEDICAL EXPERTS like the Canadian Cancer Society, why do we need a special committee to solve this problem??????
Extreme Activisms ingrained in Politics the Ontario Way
We have listened to medical experts – like the Canadian Cancer Society – who have made a convincing case for reducing our exposure to pesticides, particularly children who are generally more susceptible to the potential toxic effects of pesticides.
The ban is part of the government’s commitment to protect families, especially children from pollution and toxic chemicals through tough new environmental laws.
http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/environment/en/category/pesticides/index.htm
Ontario to examine pesticides as possible cause of bee deaths
An expert panel of farmers, beekeepers and industry heavyweights will look at how to reduce honeybee exposure to highly toxic neonicotinoid pesticides
Carlos Osorio / Toronto Star
David Schuit, owner of Saugeen Country Honey in Elmwood, Ont., believes bee deaths can be blamed on the type of insecticides used on corn around his bee yards.
An expert panel will look at how to prevent bee exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides, which are highly toxic to bees and coated on virtually all corn and soybean seeds planted in the province, the province announced Tuesday.
The Bee Health Working Group will include farmers, beekeepers, scientists and neonicotinoid makers Bayer Crop Science and Syngenta.
“There have been a lot of concerns raised, and a lot of talk about neonicotinoids,” said Gabrielle Gallant, press secretary for Premier Kathleen Wynne in her capacity as Minister of Agriculture.
Neonicotinoids have come under increased scrutiny as a contributor to declining bee populations in North America and Europe. In April, the European Union approved a two-year neonicotinoid ban, and days later, a U.S. government report identified pesticides as one of four major contributors to bee declines, alongside parasites and disease, genetics and poor nutrition.
Meanwhile, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has been “re-evaluating” use of the pesticides since last June.
It expects the review to take “several years.”
On May 16, Wynne sent a letter to the federal health and agriculture ministers in May, demanding quicker completion of the re-evaluation.
The letter cited a study last year by the PMRA found traces of neonicotinoids in 70 per cent of the dead bees tested, while the pesticide turned up on 80 per cent of apiaries visited in Ontario.
“People shouldn’t be surprised. Pesticides are designed to (kill) insects, and bees are insects,” said Ernesto Guzman, head of the Honey Bee Research Centre at the University of Guelph.
“The issue of debate here is how much or what proportion of the die-off cases can be attributed directly to these pesticides?”
Many beekeepers in Ontario, however, are convinced neonicotinoids are killing their livelihood. Honeybee populations in the province have declined by 30 to 35 per cent every year since 2007, said Guzman.
“We must enact a ban before the next planting season. Our industry simply cannot sustain these losses,” said Ontario Beekeepers’ Association President Dan Davidson in a statement Tuesday.
“Allowing the status quo to remain would spell tragedy for the bees that pollinate our fruits and vegetables.”
Terry Daynard, a corn and soybean farmer outside Guelph, said the pesticides significantly improve yields, and that taking them away could put crops at risk.
“If these seed treatments were taken off the market, it would be like playing roulette,” he said. “There’s got to be a way around this.”
The bee panel is slated to make recommendations by next spring, in time for planting season.
via Ontario to examine pesticides as possible cause of bee deaths | Toronto Star.
A Neonicotinoid Insecticide Ban Is NEXT ! And this time, it will be arbitrarily imposed against the Agriculture and Golf Industries. Anti-pesticide lunatic government officials and bee-keepers are merely looking for so-called experts WHO AGREE WITH THEM as they seek arbitrary and ineffectual prohibition. Any prohibition of pest control products is not necessary. Between April and June 2012, Health Canada received a small number of reports of bee losses from across southern Ontario, involving a mere 40 bee-keepers, as well as 1 report from Quebec. At present there are 2,900 bee-keepers in Ontario, therefore, the affected bee-keepers represent less than 1.5 per cent of all bee-keepers in Ontario. The information evaluated to date suggests that insecticides used on treated corn seeds contributed to many of the bee losses. Health Canada has issued a document entitled reducing risk from treated seeds which recommends Best Management Practices for corn growers. This document is archived on The Pesticide Truths Web-Site. http://wp.me/p1jq40-2ba Additionally, in 2013, Health Canada will assess how well the Best Management Practices are working. Overall, there is no evidence to suggest a link between insecticides called neonicotinoids and bee deaths, or bee colony collapse disorder. Overall, neonicotinoid insecticides do not harm bees. It is far more likely that bee-keepers themselves are harming bees, and not neonicotinoid insecticides. When used properly, with Best Management Practices, neonicotinoid insecticides cause no harm, and do not hurt bees. http://wp.me/P1jq40-2BA http://wp.me/p1jq40-6H8 WILLIAM H. GATHERCOLE AND NORAH G https://pesticidetruths.com/ http://wp.me/P1jq40-2rr