Agriculture Committee on May 9th, 2013

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you.

Madame Raynault.

[Francine Raynault, NDP, Joliette, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Bryans, you were here last June and I asked you about tests that may or may not have been conducted…

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Madame Raynault, may I interrupt you?

I just want to let the witnesses know about the translation. I'm sorry, I should have said that first.

Please continue.

[Francine Raynault, NDP, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Bryans, when you were here last year, I asked you whether tests had or had not been done on neonicotinoids. At that time, you told me that tests had been done, but not enough of them, because you had to move your hives.

Do you believe that monoculture accelerates this problem by increasing the bees' dependency on a single plant?

[Davis Bryans]

Monoculture is a problem. We used to have pasture, and most of the pasture is gone. Corn seems to be the number one crop. We've expanded our areas and we're moving our bees out of the corn areas.

They put it on soybeans, and it doesn't seem to be as high a concentration on soybeans. We kind of moved into an area where they grow more soybeans, but it's not a perfect world there, either, because we're getting some sublethal problems. It's bothering the queens. We're not exactly sure what's going on there.

Our problem is that a lot of the science they talk about is done by the chemical companies. It's not done by independent research. All of the research that shows it's not a problem comes from Bayer or Syngenta. It doesn't come from independents. If you look at the independent research, it will tell you what's going on. That's what happened over in Europe. They started listening to the independents.

When you let the fox guard the henhouse, you have a problem.

[Francine Raynault, NDP, Joliette, QC]

Exactly.

A number of factors are known to contribute to the loss of bees in Canada. Varroa, a parasitic mite, is one of the factors contributing to the loss of a large number of bees. The parasite is becoming increasingly resistant to pesticides and it has no natural predators. Is research being done into that? For example, we know that, if we put natural predators into greenhouses where tomatoes and cucumbers are grown, we do not have to use pesticides. Do you know if research is being done to find a natural predator?

[Davis Bryans]

No. When you're talking about that topic, if you kill the host you kill the predators too. When these farmers are killing the insect, they're killing off the natural hosts to all these insects. The monarch butterfly is gone. The bumblebee is gone. We just don't see them anymore. We used to see bumblebees every day. I've seen one queen bumblebee this year. When my kids were small they would catch bumblebees all the time and put them in a jar. It just doesn't happen anymore.

We had wild leafcutters that would live underneath the lids of our hives. They're non-existent. If it wasn't for the honeybee, there would be no pollinators out there because the natural pollinators are gone. If you have a pest and you take away the pest, then you also take away the thing that goes after that pest. You eliminate it. It's eliminating birds.

I have three birds sitting in my freezer at home waiting for somebody to come. A neighbour down the road has a bird in his freezer. Last year they took two birds, and we still don't have the samples from the birds.

[Francine Raynault, NDP, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Scarlett, the Fédération des apiculteurs du Québec recorded a 30% drop in production over the last ten years because of the same product.

What research should be done to verify the effects of neonicotinoids? What steps should the government be taking to protect the bees?

We know that, without bees, there will be no more food and, without food, we cannot feed people. There will be nothing left to eat.

[Rod Scarlett]

First off, I wasn't aware of the federation's assertion of a 30% decline. They sent the resolution to the office, but they didn't send any background information.

I think the federal government through PMRA is addressing the issue. Maybe it's not to the satisfaction of all; maybe it's too much for others. They're taking a guarded approach, and they have our trust that they are looking at scientific evidence. We have been told that if they find scientific evidence they're comfortable with, they may impose a ban on the product during this re-evaluation process.

Somewhere along the line, we have to have trust in our regulatory system. I believe the CHC has trust in our regulatory system to do the right thing. If the right thing is to ban, then so be it. If it is not, based on science, then it's not. We have to find a process and a practice to mitigate our risks.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you.

Mr. Payne, you have the last comments.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Thank you, Chair, and my thanks to the witnesses for coming today. We've had a number of individuals on this study, and it's important. As I understand it, the neonics have been in place since probably 1995. I believe it was CropLife, Pierre Petelle, who indicated that in western Canada, if it's canolas, the seed is round and it has no problem in coming out.

Rod, I know there's a lot of canola there, but what about other products such as corn or anything else that may have had an impact, such as using AtELP in the corn applications in Ontario and most likely in Quebec?

[Rod Scarlett]

Again, it's all information that's handed down to me. You're right; the seed differences—the round seed, versus corn—may have a difference there. I know they're testing new talcs.

We do understand that there is an issue in Ontario and Quebec. Davis even kind of said that it might be different when he moves his bees to soy. They're still finding things, but soy is a rounder seed.

It might be the seed conformation that's creating a problem, along with the insecticide or the neonic treatment. That's where our research has to go. We have to be clear in what we're going to do, whether it be seed treatment on corn or the full family. We need to know what we're doing before we do something.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Yes, and I understand some of the farmers in Ontario have now changed from a talc to a polymer seed. I know there are some test areas going on, and I don't know how that's going to shake out.

Certainly, comments either from yourself or Davis would be fine.

[Davis Bryans]

I actually have two locations where they're doing this. I offered beehives to it.

They haven't planted, but—

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

They haven't planted, you said?

[Davis Bryans]

They haven't planted right on the test plots yet, and they haven't set them up properly.

But I was talking to Tom Congdon, who's another beekeeper south of us. He had the yard set up, but they hadn't put the stuff on—the pollen traps and the bee catchers—and yesterday a neighbour planted corn beside it and wiped out all the flying force. So, they won't even be able to use that experiment, because it's already wiped out the yard of all the flying bees.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

That's from the polymers?

[Davis Bryans]

That's from another farmer who planted the corn. It probably wasn't a polymer, because he—

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

I understand, okay.

[Davis Bryans]

—got it on the field beforehand. They didn't even have it set up for the guy who was going to plant the polymers. So, it's pretty much an infant right now. It's a big learning curve.

I'd hate it to be us that has to foot the bill. This is very expensive. I couldn't get a statement from anybody in government, so I asked an ex-provincial apiarist, Doug McRory, and he estimated there was between $5 million and $6 million worth of damage done in Ontario last year.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

I have to stop you there. I'm sorry. I know it's very interesting, but time has run out.

I thank our guests for being here today. Your input will hopefully be identified in the final report, so thank you very much.

We're going to recess for a couple of minutes while our second set of guests takes the table and the witness chairs. We'll be back in two minutes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Welcome back to round two.

Joining us for the next hour from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada is Scott Kirby, the director of the environmental assessment directorate; and Jason Flint, director, policy and regulatory affairs division, policy, communications, and regulatory affairs directorate.

Welcome. I understand you have an opening statement to make, and then we'll move to the Q and A from the committee members.

Please begin.

[Scott Kirby, Director, Environmental Assessment Directorate, Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Health Canada]

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.

We appreciate the opportunity to give you an update on the situation facing honeybee colonies in Canada, on what action Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency has taken to address the issues related to bee losses experienced in the spring of 2012, and what we see happening in other jurisdictions.

Health Canada is responsible for administering the Pest Control Products Act. The act requires that pesticides that are registered for use in Canada do not pose unacceptable risks to health and to the environment. Pollinator health is critical both to agriculture and our natural environment and we take this issue seriously.

I would like to begin by emphasizing that honeybee loss is a very complex matter, and no single cause has yet been identified. The bee losses reported to Health Canada between April and June of last year are just one aspect to consider when looking at the larger issue of long-term pollinator health. The latest science and emerging research on honeybee health suggests that pesticide exposure is but one of several factors linked to declines of honeybee populations, and I will say a few short words on this later on.

First, I would like to provide you with a summary of what happened last year. Between April and June of 2012, Health Canada received a number of incident reports of bee losses from across southern Ontario, involving 40 beekeepers and over 200 bee yards, as well as one report from Quebec involving eight bee yards. The timing and location of these incidents coincided with planting in major corn-producing regions of those provinces. Consequently, samples of affected bees were taken at a number of locations where bee losses were reported and analyzed for pesticide residues by our laboratory services or by the ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec.

The analysis showed residues of nitroguanidine neonicotinoid insecticides used to treat corn seed present in approximately 70% of the dead bee samples. Insecticides used to treat corn seeds are believed to be a significant contributing factor in many of the 2012 bee losses.

The route of exposure is believed to be through dust containing insecticide residues that was generated during the planting of the treated corn seed. Neonicotinoid insecticides have been used for the last decade and significant bee losses were not reported to us until last spring. So what changed last year to create this situation?

One important difference last year appears to be the weather. Last year Ontario and Quebec experienced a very early spring that was hotter and drier than usual. These conditions likely resulted in greater dust generations during corn planting, and consequently, bee colonies being exposed to higher than anticipated levels of pesticides during the 2012 corn planting season.

Because of these incidents, we have implemented a number of measures to reduce pollinator exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides for the 2013 growing season. I will go through each of these briefly.

First, best management practices have been collaboratively developed with international regulatory agencies, growers, beekeepers, equipment manufacturers, and the pesticide industry. These best practices provide a tool box of options to help reduce risks to pollinators. Updated guidance to growers has been published on our website, and a proactive outreach campaign has been completed in Ontario and Quebec.

Second, registrants of neonicotinoids used to treat corn seed will be reporting annually to Health Canada in compliance with a technical standard for dust on treated corn seed, which will be consistent with both the U.S. and European standards.

Third, information will be included on seed tags for treated corn to alert growers and applicators of the potential risk to bees, and to provide information regarding best management practices to be employed during the planting of such seed. Specific wording changes have also been made to pest control product labels, currently affecting seven products.

Finally, we are working with the pesticide and seed treatment industries to develop engineering controls that will further reduce exposure, things like better seed coatings, low-dust seed lubricants, and improvements to planting equipment. In June 2012, Health Canada also announced the re-evaluation of neonicotinoid insecticides, which will consider all available scientific information on the potential impact on bees and bee populations.

This re-evaluation may take several years to complete, however, I would like to emphasize that additional regulatory restrictions will be implemented as required, and may occur prior to the completion of the re-evaluation, if warranted by a scientific determination of risk.

On the broader issue of pollinator health, Health Canada has been working with colleagues in the U.S. and Europe to understand what role pesticides may be playing in declining honeybee populations.

So far, scientists who have been investigating the loss of honeybees have suggested there may be a number of factors involved, such as the presence of honeybee pests, limited genetic diversity, diseases, harsh winter conditions, poor nutritional status, exposure to pesticides, and stress. While Canadian honeybee producers have experienced losses in recent years, the phenomenon referred to as colony collapse disorder in other parts of the world has not been observed by apiculturists in Canada.

One of the leading causes of Canadian honeybee losses appears to be associated with pests and diseases. The most significant of these in Canada are the varroa mite, tracheal mite, American foulbrood, and nosema. Over the last few years Health Canada has registered three new in-hive treatments to help combat these pests, and we continue to work with the beekeepers and professional associations to better understand the challenges facing this industry.

On the global front, Health Canada is actively participating in efforts to understand the role that pesticides may play in affecting bee health. Health Canada and the U.S. EPA currently co-chair the OECD working group on pesticide effects on insect pollinators. This OECD group is responsible for communicating pollinator incidents and improving data requirements and guidance used in risk assessments, as well as identifying new ways to reduce pesticide effects.

We are also participating in the International Commission for Pollinator-Plant Relationships to further investigate specific effects of pesticides on bees and other important pollinators. Finally, we collaborated with the U.S. on a recent update to a joint Canada-U.S. risk assessment framework for evaluating the risks that pesticides may pose to pollinators.

We acknowledge the importance of pollinator health to both agriculture and the natural environment. We continue to work closely with leading scientists around the world to protect both honeybees and wild pollinator populations. We are closely monitoring the situation and will take measured action when warranted.

In closing, I would like to thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee, for providing this opportunity to speak to you today about this important matter.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Mathyssen, welcome.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to Mr. Flint and Mr. Kirby.

A couple of questions.... You said in your brief that Health Canada has registered three new in-hive treatments to help combat the pests that are creating problems. Could you describe those? What are they, and what impact do you think those new in-hive treatments will have?