Based on a number of comments made by Ontario environment minister Glen Murray, it is evident that the rush to impose a near-ban on neonicotinoid treated seed is part of a broader strategy to restrict modern farming practices in Ontario, says Grain Farmers of Ontario in a statement._x000D_
_x000D_
As part of the proposed regulation, treated seed will be defined as a new class of pesticide, Class 12. In an interview with the Ontario Beekeepers Association, Murray was quoted as saying, “This new Class 12 category is intended to deal with the family of neonicotinoids, and as it grows we can actually quickly move others in there.”_x000D_
_x000D_
At a recent Organic Council of Ontario meeting, he made comments that suggest he intends to go after other pesticide use and promoted organic farming as one way to reduce climate change, Grain Farmers of Ontario says in a statement._x000D_
_x000D_
“Minister Murray is using the veil of bee health to push his agenda. The 2014 annual report from the provincial apiarist notes that, following the action taken by the federal government through the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), Ontario’s grain farmers were able to contribute to a 70 per cent decrease in in-season bee mortality incidents during the planting season in May 2014,” says Barry Senft, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario._x000D_
_x000D_
“The same study lists nine factors involved in bee health issues across the province, with weather and starvation named the Top 2. Ontario’s apiarist is calling for extensive research in Ontario to better understand what is happening to honey bees in the province, advice Murray seems to reject.”_x000D_
_x000D_
Senft goes on to say that it is “stunning” that the government has provincial, evidence-based information readily available to them that demonstrates that the proposed neonicotinoid ban will do little to help pollinators, yet the province continues to push these regulations as a solution to bee health._x000D_
_x000D_
“There’s no reason to believe the minister can be this misinformed by accident — he isn’t interested in the reality and impacts of these regulations, but rather a broader agenda on modern agriculture.”
