OTTAWA—In what is being hailed as a victory for troubled bee populations, the federal government is moving to ban the outdoor use of pesticides that are widely applied to canola, corn and soybean crops in Canada, the Star has learned.Beekeepers and environmentalists have blamed the pesticides — called neonicotinoids — for contributing to honeybee die-offs in recent years. On Wednesday, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) will announce a plan to phase out the outdoor use of two neonicotinoids — thiamethoxam and clothianidin — over three to five years due to concerns about their effects on aquatic invertebrates, according to two people who were informed in advance of the decision this week. A spokesperson for Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor declined to confirm details of the announcement before it is made Wednesday. John Bennett, senior policy adviser for Friends of the Earth Canada, has campaigned for restrictions on neonicotinoids since 2013 and said he was briefed on the proposed phase-out in a conference call Monday. He said Ottawa’s decision, while focused on aquatic life, will help bees because of links between increased die-offs and the planting of neonicotinoid-treated seeds reported in recent years. “This is a major change,” Bennett said. “It’s just very exciting to see that they’re finally starting to take it seriously.”Read more:Sustainable beekeeping programs are creating a buzzYork study takes on ‘controversy’ over honey bee declines and pesticide useWinter losses of bee colonies in Ontario could be worst on recordJim Coneybeare, a third-generation beekeeper in Wellington County and president of the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association, was also informed of the decision and said the phase-out can’t come soon enough. Coneybeare and Bennett said Wednesday’s announcement will be similar to the PMRA’s proposal in Novemb ...
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