A University of Guelph expert on bees and pollinators is available to discuss the recent Health Canada decision to restrict some uses of neonicotinoid insecticides.

Prof. Nigel Raine, from the School of Environmental Sciences, has spent years studying how pesticides and other agrochemicals affect the diversity of bee species, which are important pollinators of food crops and other plants.

Raine was interviewed for CBC Radio on April 15 to discuss what these new regulations mean and what could be next for neonicotinoids in Canada. Here’s part of his interview with CBC Toronto’s Metro Morning.

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency announced last week that it is phasing out some uses of three neonicotinoid pesticides to end their spraying on fruit trees, flowers and certain other soil-based plants.

Last August, the PMRA also recommended that the use of two key neonicotinoids be phased out over three to five years because of concerns the pesticides pose a threat to aquatic insects. A final decision on that move is expected in January 2020.

Raine holds the Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation at U of G and is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and the Linnean Society of London.

Contact:

Prof. Nigel Raine
nraine@uoguelph.ca