2. The “Bees and Farming” Resolution: Moratorium on Neonicotinoids in Canada
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)