Anyone Else hear back from Helena Guergis, MP?!
Unfortunately we did, and the disturbing news was nothing short of cannon fodder around the lunch table today at Chescott Farm. Here are some of our favourite excerpts from the notice outlining why Bill C-517 was voted down:
Helena Guergis, MP: “Although my colleagues and I recognized that labeling genetically modified foods to support consumer choice is an important issue for consumers, we were hesitant to support some of the provisions outlined in the bill.”
Farmer Ryan’s translation: “Corporate interests trump issues important to consumers in the Conservative Party Caucus…(wonder why?!)”
Helena Guergis, MP: “If there were any concerns with genetically modified foods that could be mitigated through labeling, such as significant nutritional or compositional factors, Health Canada could legitimately propose regulations to require mandatory labeling. Genetically engineered foods pass the rigorous safety assessment as required by the Food and Drugs Act.”
Farmer Ryan’s translation: “The fact that the majority of the concerns over GMO’s reside beyond the simple compositional comparison of the GMO versus the conventionally grown product at this point in time (issues such as pesticide use on Round-up Ready GMO monocrops leading to toxic contamination of soil, water, air and thus all living species, malicious corporate control of the food supply, threats to the sustainability of the small family farm, biodiversity, contaminatin of non-GMO seed banks and the farmers right to save their own seed…not to mention the lack of long term independent research on the safety of GMO foods themselves) are not things our scientist can understand nor test in a lab and thus we think we have a good excuse not to consider them to be risky.”
Helena Guergis, MP: “It would not be justifiable to apply different rules to genetically engineered foods than are applied to all other products.”
Farmer Ryan’s Translation: “While we can justify applying different rules to organic foods that have a different culture of production because we stand to get a nice slice of the pie from both farmers and 3rd party certifiers by licensing the Canadian Organic Standard and gaining a marketing monopoly on the word ‘organic’ which has been around longer than anyone’s great grandmother has been gardening, we would never dream of forcing the big businesses behind bio-tech foods to pay any extra for labeling or licensing let alone cut into their market share by informing consumers as to the culture of GMO food production through enforced labeling.”
Helena Guergis, MP: “Health Canada has participated in the development of a voluntary standard for the labeling of biotechnology-derived foods. The private sector could then, based on consumer demand, act accordingly along the suggested terms.”
This part simply makes Farmer Ryan laugh. When has the ‘private sector’ ever acted on voluntary standards that would cost them money and market share? What a joke…it’s like giving a criminal a gun and asking them to voluntarily turn themselves in if they use it in a robbery. Glad that Health Canada is an accomplice to this though – taxpayer money at work!
Helena Guergis, MP: “Mandatory labeling to address non health and safety issues could potentially be viewed as an unjustified barrier to trade and would put Canada at odds with its largest trading partner, the United States.”
This part makes Farmer Ryan sick – apparently our government knows nothing of Monsanto’s health and safety record. Why would they though – no Government in Canada or the U.S. has yet shown a willingness to really look into the cumulative impacts of chemical agriculture for fear of a backlash from the corporate/industrial powers that have become entrenched in the halls of political power.
And God help us if we joined the rest of the world and were at odds with U.S. Once again, short sighted economic concerns take precedent over long term health and well-being in Canada.
(Enough of this, I’m going to my happy place…)
