All-Out Attack on Genetically Engineered Wheat Launched Council
of Canadians
9jan03 OTTAWA, ONTARIO - Concerned with the increasing pressure
mounted by the biotechnology industry on the federal government,
the Council of Canadians is launching an all-out attack to raise
awareness regarding genetically engineered wheat. The last few weeks
have been fertile in biotechnology-related events. First, Saskatchewan
farmer Percy Schmeiser has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court,
asking that the Federal Court decision to uphold his guilty verdict
in the case opposing him to Monsanto for alleged violation of patent
rights on GE canola.
Then, the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate filed a $14-million
class action suit against Monsanto and Aventis as a result of the
large degree of crop contamination by GE canola. More recently,
Monsanto Canada, a biotechnology company, applied to the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for approval of the environmental
release of genetically engineered wheat. An application has also
been filed at the same time to U.S. regulators. Part of these efforts
will be a 12-city tour of the Canadian Prairies this winter to raise
awareness on the consequences of allowing GE wheat to grow in the
country.
The launch of the tour is currently set for February 27, in Winnipeg.
Spearheaded by the Council of Canadians, the tour will be co-organised
by the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate, the National Farmers' Union
and the Alberta-based Parkland Institute. "Approving GE wheat, for
example, would have consequences that are not limited to health
safety concerns," says Nad�ge Adam, biotechnology campaigner for
the 100,000-member Council of Canadians. "The farmers traditional
right to reuse part of the crop to seed the following year is also
in jeopardy, as this practice would infringe the patent. And when
you think you can go around this problem by switching back to natural
seeds, you are faced with a contamination problem that is impossible
to contain." We warned this would be happening with other crops
such as canola, and it happened.
Why the Canadian government would openly consider opening our wheat
crops to such risks is beyond me. There is absolutely no evidence
that GE crops have higher yields and are in any way beneficial for
farmers. However, the potential for contamination is so high that
the future of organic farming would be truly threatened by the release
of GE wheat in the farming community" Back in 1999, the Council
of Canadians was part of a multi-sectoral effort that won a hard-fought
and long battle against Monsanto's attempt to have Health Canada
approve the Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) [also known as rBGH and
rBST] that would have found its way through the milk supply consumed
by Canadians.
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