WHEREAS managed hives, wild bees and native pollinators are integral and irreplaceable as pollinators in agriculture and in the natural environment;
WHEREAS the economic health of crop and livestock agriculture – which contributes 8% of Canada’s total GDP – ultimately relies upon a healthy population of pollinators;
WHEREAS neonicotinoid-based insecticides have been subject to moratoriums in other jurisdictions due to the conclusive links to bee deaths;
WHEREAS the systemic mode of action of neonicotinoids means that conventional risk mitigation measures – including causing farmers to modify seeding machinery and planting practices – may impose additional costs on farmers while not protecting pollinators from harm;
BE IT RESOLVED that the Liberal Party of Canada call for the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to suspend immediately its registration of all neonicotinoid-based compounds, resulting in an immediate moratorium on the sale and use of this class of technology in Canada;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that pollinator health – including test methodologies to more accurately assess the impact of systemic insecticides – become a more prominent criterion of subsequent registration reviews for new agricultural pesticides;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a Liberal Government contribute scientific leadership in securing the future global vitality of pollinators in collaboration with other countries and the UN-Agricultural Development and Food Security Organization to support the research and monitoring that are needed to improve information on the status of pollinators and establish a framework for conservation and restoration of pollinator species within two years.
Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario)
WHEREAS managed hives, wild bees and native pollinators are integral and irreplaceable as pollinators in agriculture and in the natural environment;
WHEREAS the economic health of crop and livestock agriculture – which contributes 8% of Canada’s total GDP – ultimately relies upon a healthy population of pollinators;
WHEREAS neonicotinoid-based insecticides have been subject to moratoriums in other jurisdictions due to the conclusive links to bee deaths;
WHEREAS the systemic mode of action of neonicotinoids means that conventional risk mitigation measures – including causing farmers to modify seeding machinery and planting practices – may impose additional costs on farmers while not protecting pollinators from harm;
BE IT RESOLVED that the Liberal Party of Canada call for the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to suspend immediately its registration of all neonicotinoid-based compounds, resulting in an immediate moratorium on the sale and use of this class of technology in Canada;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that pollinator health – including test methodologies to more accurately assess the impact of systemic insecticides – become a more prominent criterion of subsequent registration reviews for new agricultural pesticides;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a Liberal Government contribute scientific leadership in securing the future global vitality of pollinators in collaboration with other countries and the UN-Agricultural Development and Food Security Organization to support the research and monitoring that are needed to improve information on the status of pollinators and establish a framework for conservation and restoration of pollinator species within two years.
Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario)