Mr. Speaker, I once again stand in this House and present more petitions on behalf of constituents who are concerned about bees.
The petitioners are concerned that the mortality rate for bee colonies has been rising for the past three years, and that they play a role in the pollination of flowering plants, which contributes billions of dollars to Canada's agricultural economy each year. Therefore, they ask the government to take concrete steps to solve the problem of the high mortality rates among bees and other insect pollinators and to develop an effective strategy to address the multiple factors related to bee colony deaths, such as the destruction and disturbance of habitat, pesticide use, the side effects of pathogens, and parasites.