Ontario's Tory agriculture critic calls for reconsideration of province's neonic regulations

Monday, January 11, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

Toby Barrett, Progressive Conservative agriculture critic, is calling on the Ontario government to reconsider its regulations governing the sales and use of neonicotinoid-treated seeds in the wake of a federal government’s report released last week.

The preliminary report by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) found there was little risk to pollinators from farmers using the type of neonicotinoid chemical called imidacloprid. Furthermore, the potential risks from foliar applications of imidacloprid are minimized by current label restrictions.

The other two types of neonicotinoids are clothianidin and thiamethoxam. PMRA preliminary reports on those types are due out in December.

In Ontario, imidacloprid is used as a seed treatment for vegetables and as foliar applications for vegetables and fruits. It’s not really used for corn and soybean production.

Barrett says, “we’ve known that the scientific research (on neonicotinoids’ effects on pollinators) has been inconclusive and it remains inconclusive. Even this most recent (PMRA) report is just a continued roll out of knowledge as it becomes available.”

Since the scientific evidence on the chemicals’ effects on pollinators is currently inconclusive, the government should focus its efforts on continuing to monitor and evaluate the situation, he says.

However, by introducing regulations in Ontario July 1, 2015 to restrict the sale and use of neonicotinoid-treated seeds, it’s almost as if the Ontario government “pulled the trigger before they took aim,” he says. “They jumped in with not all the facts.” BF