Thanks to Lucy Fischetti Nickel: Response from the leader of - TopicsExpress

Thanks to Lucy Fischetti Nickel: Response from the leader of the Green Party of Canada & M.P. Elizabeth May regarding GMOs By Lucy Fischetti Nickel on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 5:32pm Thank you for expressing your concerns about genetically engineered (GE) organisms in food. GE organisms pose a potentially serious threat to human health and the health of natural ecosystems. Many Canadians want to follow the example of the European Union and implement a zero tolerance for GE crops, including a ban of low-level presence GE crops. At a minimum, GE products must be labelled, giving consumers the right to know about, and to say no to GE foods. Although polls show that 8 in 10 Canadians want mandatory labelling of GE foods and food ingredients, the federal government has not acted. In 2004, the Standards Council of Canada adopted a Standard for Voluntary Labelling but it has not been widely adopted. Our government is not exercising enough oversight and control. In fact, Agriculture Canada is promoting GE technology, forming partnerships with biotech companies and partnering in the research initiated by the biotech industry. Agriculture has already experienced the harmful impact of GE crops. Herbicide resistant (Roundup Ready) canola has escaped and become a noxious weed. I appreciate that GE organisms and “terminator” technologies come with health and environmental risks, and that all food products containing GE organisms or their products must be labelled. It is up to the companies that produce and promote GE organisms to prove that they are safe. No such organism should be released into the environment until it is proven to pose no unacceptable risks to human or animal health or to the environment. As a Member of Parliament, I am committed to: •Ban experimentation with planting and promotion of new GE crops. This includes a ban on further GE research (except for traditional seed selection and grafting) at Agriculture Canada and a ban on companies such as Monsanto owning patents to GE products developed through joint research with Agriculture Canada. •Implement the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, a protocol within the UN Biodiversity Convention, which Canada signed and ratified in 1992 and which came into force in 2003. The Cartagena Protocol requires the adoption of new products to be guided by the precautionary principle, which balances the economic benefits of innovation with public health and ecological integrity. •Require mandatory labelling of all GE foods and food ingredients. •Support local, provincial and territorial GE organism-free zones where these local jurisdictions declare that genetically modified plants and animals are not to be part of the agricultural mix. •Prohibit field testing, commercial use, sale and importation of “terminator” (genetic use restriction) technologies. •Maintain the ban on GE wheat and oppose GE alfalfa. Thank you for writing to me, and I hope you continue to voice your concerns about the issues that matter to you. I would encourage you to also contact your Member of Parliament. Sincerely, Elizabeth May, O.C., M.P. Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands Leader of the Green Party of Raw Milk Canada