Ontario is in election mode...voting day is June 12. If you are wondering how to choose one party over another, how about thinking about the bees and checking out their platforms on the environment.
The Ontario Beekeepers Association is a very quiet organization but they have become vocal as it becomes increasingly obvious that neonicotinoids, pesticides made by Bayer and Syngenta are causing havoc with bee health as well as native pollinators. It is also very obvious that our politicians are unwilling to go up against these corporate giants and keep handing the decision making to other levels of government.
Here is the OBA's press release for you to look at. Ask all your candidates these questions and see if they have an answer...if they have even thought about it.
I cannot think of any issue as pressing as this one not because I am a beekeeper but because the health of the bees is an indicator of the health of the world.
Check out your candidate and their stance. Whatever party you vote for...make sure you vote!
May 28, 2014
PRESS RELEASE
Ontario’s political parties express positions on bee health
Milton, ON, May 28, 2014. The Ontario Beekeepers’ Association has surveyed each of the four major parties running in this year’s provincial election for their plan to solve Ontario’s current bee health crisis.
In 2012 and 2013, over 14,000 hives were lost to bee kills linked to the indiscriminate use of neonicotinoid pesticides by Health Canada. Last year, nearly 99% of the 2.2 million acres of corn in Ontario were treated with neonicotinoids, even though the Ontario Ministry of Food and Agriculture crop specialists indicate that only 10% to 20% of acreage needs pest protection.
The OBA has released a revised position on neonicotinoids and bee health. The new position calls for a moratorium on the sale of neonicotinoid treated seeds but offers the option for farmers to apply for one-time use if they can a demonstrate, through an approved soil test or monitoring program, a problem that requires neonicotinoid-treated seeds. This position is consistent with that adopted by the National Farmers Union.
Two questions were asked via email to the leaders of the Ontario PC, Ontario Liberal, Ontario NDP and Green Party of Ontario:
1) Ontario's beekeeping industry has suffered through the loss of thousands of hives in both 2012 and 2013 that Health Canada has confirmed were the result of exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides in soy and corn planting. Should you be elected to lead the Government of Ontario, would you support the Ontario Beekeepers' Association's call for an immediate moratorium on the sale of the neonicotinoid treated seeds that are killing our bees?
2) Ontario is suffering a serious decline in the population of the insect pollinators we rely on for our locally grown foods as the result of the indiscriminate use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Health Canada and other studies have shown significant amounts of persistent neonicotinoid pesticides in water and soil samples across Ontario. If elected, will your party declare this an urgent environmental problem?
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