This is commerce as crime against humanity.
And so far only one Canadian party - with members sitting in parliament - seems to have come to terms with that simple fact.
Hat Tip to Vive le CanadaNDP tables ban on Terminator seeds and technology
OTTAWA – Today the NDP’s agriculture critic, Alex Atamanenko (British Columbia Southern Interior), announced the tabling of a Private Member’s Bill to ban “terminator technology,” making a commitment to sustaining Canadian farmers and the farming industry.
“It is time to make a commitment to our farmers and to the international community that terminator seeds will not be allowed to take root in Canada,” said Atamanenko. “We all share the conviction that Canada should join the ranks of countries like India and Brazil, whose governments have already legislated bans on this technology in order to protect their farmers.”
The Terminator Seed Ban Act is designed to protect the right of Canadian farmers to save seeds by banning the release, sale, importation and use of Variety Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (V-GURTs), more commonly known as Terminators, which genetically engineer seeds to be sterile after the first harvest. The promoters of this technology do not make the claim that there will be any agronomic benefits to farmers.
“The only goal of those who promote the use of Terminator technologies is to prevent farmers from saving and re-using seeds, thereby forcing them to buy seeds on the market each season,” said Atamanenko.
Since 2005, the federal government has been working against global consensus on banning Terminator seeds. It does not recognize the current moratorium and says it will assess the technology on a case-by-case basis – a position which has been rejected by the UN Convention on Biodiversity.
“The international community would rejoice if Canada were to pass this law. We have an opportunity to bring the world a major step closer to eliminating this detestable technology,” concluded Atamanenko. “Judging by the 1,400 letters that my office has received, and which continue to arrive daily, Canadians are spelling it out loud and clear to this government – BAN TERMINATOR!”
1 comment:
To say only one political party sees terminator technology as a crime against nature is not true. You must know this. Perhaps you meant only one sitting political party.
Opposing terminator tech is long-standing by at least one other party, even further back than 1992 (the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety).
Some parties come to this type of thing naturally and with every fibre of their being.
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