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Vancouver now wants to save bees

After taking on the task of saving the world from Alberta’s evil oil sands, Vancouver city councillors are now into a crusade to save bees.

After taking on the task of saving the world from pipelines from Alberta’s evil oil sands, Vancouver city councillors are now launching a crusade to save bees from being exterminated by evil pesticides. One does wonder how they have time left to deal with more boring municipal issues like fixing roads and picking up garbage. I expect saving the world from a perceived environmental Armageddon is a lot more interesting, but then nothing should be surprising coming from BC where the word “airhead” is most fitting for politicians. It seems these folks are particularly prone to having little understanding of what their mandate is as city councillors, and it’s been a long-term problem.

The past has seen Vancouver formally declare itself a nuclear-free zone. I am sure sabre-rattling nuclear countries like North Korea, Russia and China have taken serious note of that declaration. Many years ago, Vancouver banned the use of 2-4D to control broad-leafed weeds within city limits; the unsubstantiated fearmongering at the time was that the herbicide may be linked to cancer. Of course, no follow up study was, or ever will be, done to prove that banning that herbicide has had any lessening impact on cancer rates. The same will be the case with Vancouver’s latest bout of political correctness to ban the use of neonicotinoids (neonics). They are effective pesticides that control a variety of bugs in commercial agriculture and horticulture. They replaced the earlier use of DDTs, which were subsequently exonerated as to their alleged repercussions. In cities, neonics are used to control lawn and garden pests such as chafer beetles in Vancouver’s case, but it’s a minor level of use.

The approval of neonics and other pesticides is the responsibility of provincial and federal authorities who make decisions based on scientific evidence overseen by professionals. But municipal politicians have shown in many cases that they see themselves as better experts and show little regard for scientific facts. A Vancouver councillor even declared that she couldn’t care less about what Health Canada and the province says about neonics, she wants them banned. Common sense would indicate that even if neonics had any influence on bee survival, Vancouver would see very little impact. That’s because the overarching issue involves the loss of domesticated bee survivability with hives in commercial honey production. I suspect commercial scale honey producers are virtually non-existent within the city boundaries of Vancouver. But that makes it a perfect issue for duplicitous city politicians they look green to voters by banning a product that has no effect on the majority of the population. Some of these political geniuses suggested a natural pesticide called pyrethrins be used except that product is somewhat hazardous to humans. Go figure.

Perhaps what needs to be considered is isolating cities and even countries that insist on making politically-correct bogus decisions on science issues. For instance, it has been suggested that research involving biotechnology, like GM plants and advanced genetic and chemical products, be withdrawn from Europe completely. The European Union has placed severe restrictions on GM food products, commodities and hormone-supplemented beef that by its own admittance are not science-based. Genetics and chemical companies and exporters have spent millions of dollars and decades trying to overcome those trade barriers. Why not just give up trying to promote those modern agronomic practices and products and let commercial agriculture in Europe reap the consequences of declining crop production and more expensive food. Reality will set in when shortages develop in Europe as was shown a few years ago when a shortage of non-GM livestock feed developed. Suddenly the EU allowed for the emergency importation of additional GM soybean meal and other feedstuffs. How expedient, indeed.

Perhaps rather than criticize Vancouver for making bone-headed decisions on herbicides, why not encourage them to ban all chemicals found in food sold in Vancouver. The inevitable food shortage would see public outrage focus the mindset of self-serving politicians. In the end, these banning issues are fraught with hypocrisy, particularly in BC. Politicians in that province, egged on by nefarious green lobby groups, fearmonger against pipelines, refineries, tankers, the oilsands and evil oil companies in general. They are quite prepared, however, to use oil products like gasoline and plastics in their everyday lives. Pesticide banning is the same game; they ban its use for politically-correct reasons, but not if it reduces their food supply or if it’s needed to get rid of cockroaches and mosquitoes from their homes. How deceitful it all is, indeed.