Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank all the witnesses who are with us today.
We all agree that it is very important to protect bee health. I remember witnesses who spoke to the committee about this a few years ago. They spoke a lot about the losses they had suffered.
It was pretty devastating to have those apiculturists come to committee and talk about their losses. It was really devastating.
I think this is a complicated issue. There's no silver bullet solution for it. There are a lot of factors, I think, that contribute to the loss of honeybees. A few years ago when we lost a lot of bees in Ontario, there were tests done. I think they were done by Health Canada. They concluded that in Ontario 70% of those bees, I think it was, that died and were tested had neonics in them. In Quebec, it was about 80%. I know that the honeybee council said that our honeybee population has dropped by an estimated 35% over the last few years.
As for working together with industry, farmers, and federal and provincial governments, it's really important. It's important that we all work together to better understand bee health and solutions. It's important that we work collaboratively.
Ms. Johnston, you were talking about testing and monitoring. How long has the government been testing, monitoring, and evaluating bee health?