Collaborative efforts on bee health in the U.S. in stark contrast to Ontario government's actions

This week the Pollinator Health Task Force out of the U.S. released its National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators. Essentially, the plan calls for a multi-pronged, collaborative approach to addressing the complex issue of bee health. They should be commended for taking this practical approach to such an important issue.

This is diametrically opposed in almost every way to the plan being rolled out in Ontario by the Minister of Environment, Glen Murray. He is unilaterally moving forward with an initiative that blatantly disregards the many collaborative efforts happening on bee health in Canada and he has paid only lip service to the idea of consulting with stakeholders in any meaningful way.

The Obama administration went through a comprehensive consultation process on pollinator health, which included hearing from hundreds of witnesses with many different perspectives and receiving input from almost 20 different federal agencies and departments.

Their conclusions were very much in line with what the National Bee Health Roundtable and the federal regulatory agency here in Canada have to say. Bee health is impacted by a number of factors, including disease, weather, nutrition, habitat, genetic diversity, pesticides and beekeeping practices. Meaningful solutions to bee health challenges require a holistic approach. Focusing exclusively on any one element will do little to improve the overall health of bees.

Neither the U.S. Pollinator Health Task Force nor Health Canada have recommended restricting the use of neonicotinoids, one of the safest and most effective pest control tools ever developed. Yet in Ontario, Minister Murray continues to move ahead with an arbitrary restriction on neonics while ignoring the many other factors known to impact bee health.

What then does the Ontario government know that the hundreds of experts at the federal level in both the U.S. and Canada who have thoroughly studied neonics and bee health don’t know? The answer is nothing. With every day that passes it becomes more and more evident that Minister Murray is committed to moving ahead with a political agenda and he will not let sound public policy stand in his way.

By ignoring the science and dismissing input from those in the agricultural value chain who stand in what is almost unanimous opposition to his proposal to restrict neonics, he is creating a divide in the province that could take years to repair. This is exactly the opposite of the collaborative kind of approaches being taken in the U.S. and nationally here in Canada with the National Bee Health Roundtable.

Beekeeping and agriculture are very much intertwined; one cannot succeed without the other. It makes sense then that the two work together on solutions that are mutually beneficial. This is the approach being taken by the White House as well as nationally here in Canada. We’d strongly encourage the Ontario government to join in the constructive dialogue.

Ted Menzies,
President and CEO, CropLife Canada