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In November, the Ontario government became the first in North America to announce plans to reduce the use of neonicotinoids ("neonics"), a pesticide that has been linked to bee deaths.
The plan: Reduce by 80% the acreage sown with corn and soybean seeds treated with neonics by 2017.
In Quebec, 99% of corn seed and 30% of soybean seed are treated with neonics. That's more than a million acres treated with neonics each year. Equiterre has joined with the David Suzuki Foundation to encourage Quebec to take action, like its neighbour, Ontario.
On November 6, Equiterre and the David Suzuki Foundation mailed 18,000 letters from citizens to the Premier of Quebec asking him to ban the sale and use of neonic pesticides, to which there has been no reply. (We are still collecting letters, if you'd like us to send one in your name: "It's time to ban bee-killing pesticides.")
Last June, an international group of 29 independent scientists revealed the results of a colossal, four-year-long review of 800 peer-reviewed publications. Their analysis made clear the negative effects of neonics on bees, as well as the risk posed by the pesticide to a large number of other useful species, such as butterflies, earthworms and birds. In addition, a Quebec study showed that treating seeds with neonics doesn't increase the yield of agricultural crops.
