by Josh Brandon
see locations and dates below

It’s a simple right to know. More than eight out of ten Canadians want genetically engineered (GE) foods labelled. In 40 countries around the world, labelling GE food is already mandatory. On May 7, Canadian Members of Parliament voted on Bill C-517, which would have made GE labelling mandatory. Despite consumer activism, MPs voted against it by a margin of 156 to 101. Once again, the powerful interests of the genetic engineering and chemical lobby cheated Canadians out of the right to choose healthy food and protect their environment. To find out how your MP voted on the bill, go to www.greenpeace.ca/c-517vote.

GE ingredients are found in 70 per cent of processed foods, mostly as ingredients made from corn, soy, canola and cotton. There is no long-term evidence to show these products are safe. Recent peer-reviewed studies have shown that rats fed genetically engineered corn showed higher rates of kidney and liver problems than rats fed conventional corn. This is one of the reasons why Dr. Perry Kendall, BC’s provincial health officer, recommended mandatory labelling in his 2005 annual report. Dr John Blatherwick, Vancouver’s chief medical health officer, has also called on provincial and federal governments to make GE labelling mandatory, so that any allergenics or toxins found can be traced. Instead, GE foods remain as hidden from health authorities as they are from ordinary Canadians.

Growing GE crops can have damaging impacts on the environment, use more industrial fertilizers and often rely on dangerous chemical pesticides. There are over 200 cases of GE crops entering the food chain or contaminating neighbouring fields. Some of these cases, such the illegal GE rice discovered in Canadian supermarkets last fall, or the infamous Starlink corn incident, cost farmers and the food industry over a billion dollars to clean up. In Western Canada, GE canola contamination is widespread.

Many communities and individuals are fighting back. Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser was sued by Monsanto in 1998 after his field became contaminated with patented GE canola. Schmeiser fought back and recently won a countersuit against Monsanto. Worldwide, thousands of communities have declared themselves GE free, including Powell River and the southern Gulf Islands. MLA Gregor Robertson has tabled Right to Know legislation that, if passed, would see GE foods labelled, better regulated, and the public better informed on toxic and cancer causing products.

The Society for a Genetically Engineered Free BC,
Mountain Equipment Coop,
Common Ground & Greenpeace present:
Making BC genetically engineered free
a speakers’ tour

SPEAKERS:
Percy Schmeiser, Saskatchewan farmer who fought Monsanto
Tom Rudge, lead campaigner for a GE moratorium in the Yukon
Colin Palmer, Chair, Powell River Regional District, the first GE free zone in Canada
Josh Brandon, Agriculture Campaigner, Greenpeace

Vancouver Public Library
Alice Mackay Room, 4th July, 7pm

Saanich
Organic Islands Festival
5th July, 2pm-3pm

Victoria
St. Ann’s Academy
835 Humboldt St., 5th July, 7pm

Courtenay
Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton Ave.,
6th July, 7pm

Salt Spring Island
Meaden Hall, 7th July, 7pm