Serious flaws in Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s review of neonicotinoid pollinator-killing pesticides – Friends of the Earth calls for action from federal Auditor General

June 29, 2021 6:44 AM

Press release

June 29, 2021 (Ottawa) Friends of the Earth filed an official petition to the Auditor General (OAG) regarding serious flaws in recent decisions to allow continued use of neonicotinoid pesticides. He asks that two federal ministers who share responsibility for protecting the environment from toxic contamination – Health Canada Minister Patty Hajdu and Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson – provide details of their cooperation and collaboration to protect wild pollinators using the full set of regulatory tools and international commitments at their disposal.

Previous audits by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) revealed questionable pesticide approval practices of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), including allowing neonicotinoids to enter the market without the results of full scientific research of manufacturers. These conditional registrations were allowed to continue for many years before OAG audits revealed the practice and the Minister of Health ultimately stepped in to ban their use.

Neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics) accumulate in the pollen and nectar of treated plants and pose risks to pollinators such as bees and birds, butterflies and bats. Widely used for the coating of seeds of canola, corn, soybeans and other crops in Canada, neonicotinoids persist in soil and seep into waterways, creating a toxic hazard to nesting bees in Canada. soil, migratory birds and aquatic insects eaten by birds and fish.

“The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) used industry-generated information in CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada. “The PMRA has chosen to use data received from an industry-led water monitoring working group, which includes Bayer, Syngenta Canada and Canadian Canola Growers Association, rather than using resources from Environment Canada research.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Wilkinson has a mandate to protect wild pollinators under Canada’s commitment to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and several other laws, and could have made credible scientific work available to the PMRA.

Sarah McClure, a law student at the University of Ottawa and co-editor of the petition, found the PMRA’s decisions on neonics disheartening. “Ignoring wild pollinators in their assessment shows that Health Canada’s PMRA is paying more attention to business interests than to protecting biodiversity.

“The ministers’ responses, guaranteed through the OAG’s petition, will reveal how the reviews of pesticides and neonics have derailed and whether Environment and Climate Change Canada needs to play a much more active role in these reviews to protect the environment. Said Robert Wright, counsel for the Applicant.

The recent decisions by the PMRA to allow the continued use of three neonics run counter to the 2018 European decision banning the use of neonics due to the acute risks to bees. PMRA’s continued backtracking on the continued use of pollinator toxic neonics raises questions about integrity and science and has sparked the Friends of the Earth petition.

Friends of the Earth believe the Auditor General should audit the PMRA’s review procedures for neonicotinoid pesticides.
The Office of the Auditor General’s Environmental Petitions Platform gives ministers 120 days to respond to Friends of the Earth questions and guarantees responses to the petitioner.

For more information contact:
Béatrice Olivastri at Béatrice foecanada.org or 613 724-8690
Friends of the Earth Canada (a href = “https://foecanada.org/”> www.foecanada.org) is the Canadian member of Friends of the Earth International, the world’s largest local environmental network campaigning on environmental and social issues.

End Notes:
Environmental petitions to the Auditor General are a unique way for Canadian residents to bring their concerns and questions to the attention of federal ministers with a guaranteed response. The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development administers environmental petitions on behalf of the Auditor General of Canada and reports to Parliament annually on petitions received and responses provided by federal ministers.
The Commissioner conducts performance audits and is responsible for: monitoring the sustainable development strategies of federal departments; oversee the environmental petition process; and the audit of the federal government’s management of environmental and sustainable development issues.
On behalf of the Auditor General, the Commissioner provides parliamentarians with objective and independent analysis and recommendations on the federal government’s efforts to protect the environment and promote sustainable development.