The time to stop using…

The time to stop using neonicotinoid insecticides is long overdue.

Ontario must not water down its Pesticides Regulations, and Health Canada must not delay it's proposed phase-out of neonics. With every year that the chemicals imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxamare are used, we lose more and more of those species that are the foundation of healthy ecosystems: aquatic insects and pollinators.

The Province of Quebec now restricts all agricultural uses of neonics (not just treated corn and soybean seeds, as in Ontario), and the European Union banned outdoor agricultural use of the three main neonics more than a year ago.

To protect biodiversity, Ontario should strengthen — not weaken — its Pesticides Regulation. Canada should match the European timeline and ban clothianidin, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid, without further delay.