lol you're impossible to talk with JBen, you can't even accept something as simple as a word's definition. A ban is a ban is a ban and it means ONE HUNDRED PERCENT prohibition of use. 80% reduction through regulation is NOT A BAN. Deal with it... or not.
As for the rest... i don't care how inept the Liberals are. They're the party in power, an issue has been brought to them and they have begun to act upon it. Nothing is set in stone yet so it's impossible to know if it'll be a massive clusermuck or a miracle of legislation or somewhere in between.
My stance on neonics is the same today (4 months after becoming active in beekeeping) that it was 3 years ago - the testing performed on neonics prior to launch in the industry was subpar, careless and potentially criminally lackluster.
I'm not a beekeeper that relies on commercial crops. Today, and for the foreseeable future, my colonies will be wildflower feeders. Down the road? Who knows.
My concern goes beyond the bees to include all pollinators. We're only talking about bees because they make some Canadians money... but we have no idea how the neonics are affecting other pollinating insects and animal species. This is research that needs to be done - it's inexcusable that it wasn't done before, and it's inexcusable for anyone to argue that commercial growers should be allowed to use the crap willy nilly, when they have no idea what it's capable of.