Canada: Lawsuit filed over federal permits for alleged bee-killing pesticide
The lawsuit, filed in Federal Court in Toronto, takes aim at neonicotinoids, which are among the most widely used pesticides in Canada.
The David Suzuki Foundation, Friends of the Earth Canada, Ontario Nature and the Wilderness Committee say in court documents that Canada's federal pesticide regulator has allowed the chemicals to be used despite being uncertain about their risks.
"The (Pest Management Regulatory Agency) does not have reasonable certainty about the risks of these products, which they're required to do," said Charles Hatt, the lawyer arguing the case.
Hatt said the agency has a history with two so-called neonics, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, dating back about a decade.
"What you see is that for a number of years the (agency) will note that they are concerned about risks to pollinators, to bees, from chronic toxicity and that they need field studies to determine the nature of the risk. Then they will request that information from the proponent and they either get something they deem inadequate, or they get nothing at all.
"But they continue to register and re-register the product.
"We've had a situation where for years, they're continuing these product registrations without the scientific information that the agency itself flags as critical for determining the risks of these pesticides."
The federal government has yet to file a response in court.
Source: The Canadian Press