A single beekeeper in a small Ontario town just lost one million bees. And for James Murray, there’s no doubt who to blame for his devastating loss: “It's pesticide for sure, there no doubt about that.”
We all know which pesticide: bee-killing neonicotonoids. It’s a toxic chemical that attacks a bee’s nervous system and it’s devastating pollinator populations across the country -- on which one-third of our food supply relies. In the winter of 2013-2014, 58 per cent of all Ontario bees died.
But people are fighting to save the bees. Under pressure from people like us, the government of Ontario introduced the harshest neonic restrictions in the country. And the city of Vancouver just banned the use of bee-killing pesticides anywhere inside the city limits.
But we need more. Join us as we ask Prime Minister Trudeau to institute a Canada-wide ban on bee-killing pesticides.
We should be able to convince him. Trudeau was asked during the election campaign whether he would institute a ban on neonics. He answered that the Liberals were "a party of evidence-based policy." The science is in, Prime Minister. Ban neonics, save the bees.
But the agro-chemical lobby -- backed by Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto -- is one of the strongest in the world. These mega-corporations even sued Europe when the European Union implemented a temporary ban. We can ride this undeniable momentum and secure a clean and safe future for our bees -- but if we take our feet off the gas, we can bet that the pesticide lobby will be bringing everything it has to turn the tide the other way.
Justin Trudeau, will you secure one-third of our food supply and save Canada’s bees?
More information
CBC. 12 July 2016.
Toronto Star. 6 June 2016.