Canada's Bees
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- Published on Monday, 19 January 2015 08:22
- Written by editor
Ontario is set to curb the use of bee-killing pesticides responsible for the massive global bee die-off, but the pesticide industry has launched a massive pressure campaign to stop them.
Can you write a message supporting Ontario's proposal to curb the use of bee-killing pesticides before the comment period closes next week?
Add your voicePaov,
More than half the bee hives in Ontario did not survive last winter. 37 million bees died in a single North American farm alone. Study after study all point to the same cause: deadly pesticides called “neonics” are killing the bees that pollinate a full one-third of our food sources.
Ontario is set to curb the use of bee-killing pesticides responsible, but the pesticide industry has launched a huge campaign to try and stop them. We have just one week to make our voices heard in the public comment period, and we need you to weigh in.
Ontario is the first jurisdiction in all of North America proposing to limit the use of neonicotinoids. The European Union has already enacted a moratorium on bee-killing pesticides, and if we can build on this momentum in North America, it’ll be huge.
But the pesticide and Big Ag lobbyists have declared war on the bees and Ontario’s new protections, claiming that these new protections will cause lower crop yields and higher food prices.
It’s completely false -- studies show that bee-killing pesticides do nothing to increase crop yields. In fact, bees play a critical role in agriculture as pollinators. Without bees, crops literally can’t grow.
Corporate agriculture and the chemical industry are some of the most powerful corporate interests in the world. They have massive amounts of money to spend on lobbyists, campaign donations, and promoting misinformation.
But Ontario is proposing to put the brakes on neonicotinoid pesticides, reducing their use by 80 per cent. Now it’s up to us to stand with the first jurisdiction in North America to save the bees so we can lead the way for communities around the world.
Thanks for all you do,
Angus, Paul, Nick, and the team at SumOfUs.org
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More Information:
Ontario to restrict use of pesticide linked to bee deaths, The Globe and Mail, Nov 26, 2014
SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy. Please help keep SumOfUs strong byr0
