Submitted by Jim Thomas on
In the last few years it would have been fair to "blame Canada" for trying to overturn the international moratorium on terminator seeds. Thankfully if a new initiative in Ottawa suceeds the Canadian government may be forced to change its tune.
A bill to prohibit field testing and commercialization of Terminator seed technology was introduced in the Canadian Parliament today by the Agriculture critic (ie spokesperson) for the NDP party.
Here's what some Canadians had to say about it:
"Canada needs to pass this bill into law because genetic seed sterilization is dangerous and blatantly anti-farmer - suicide seeds threaten to intensify corporate control over Canadian agriculture and offers no benefits for farmers," said Colleen Ross of the National Farmers Union.
"Canada has led a behind-the-scenes push to undermine the United Nations moratorium," points out Pat Mooney, Executive Director of the Ottawa-based ETC Group, "so it's time the Canadian Government listened to the people."
"Researchers are continuing to develop and win patents on Terminator because seed sterility is simply too lucrative for industry to abandon," said Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network. "A national law to prohibit the technology is the only way to insure that Terminator is never commercialized in Canada. The Government of Canada must show its commitment to the international community and not bow to industry pressure," said Sharratt.
The full text of the Canadian bill will be available here on June 1: www.banterminator.org/canada
ETC has been working on some new analysis of terminator-like projects. Watch this space for news about the latestreturn of terminator....