The following letters
(one for your MP, one for your MLA) can be used as a guide for writing
to your federal or British Columbia representative. They are based on
a recent sign-on document -- drafted by 80 Canadian organizations (see
list at end of page) -- urging federal MPs to support Bill C-287 which
was defeated on October 17, 2001. The letters outline reasons why labelling
for genetically engineered food ought to be mandatory.
To identify and
contact your government representative, use the coordinates below. Remember
you can ask for your representative's riding office or "in session"
government office:
British Columbia
MLAs:
• Telus Blue Pages / Government of British Columbia
/ Members of the Legislative Assembly for local constituency
offices.
• Inquiry BC (Mon - Fri, 8am - 5pm) for constituency offices
or for legislature offices in Victoria:
604-660-2421 or 1-800-663-7867 outside Greater Vancouver.
You can also Identify
your provincial MLA and then make contact by phone,
fax, snailmail or email
with these links courtesy the Government of BC.
Federal MPs:
• Telus Blue Pages / Government of Canada / Members
of Parliament for local constituency offices
• Inquiry Canada (Mon - Fri, 8am - 8pm EST) for constituency
offices or parliamentary offices in Ottawa:
1-800-622-6232
Click here for contact
info for all MPs or go to Elections
Canada FAQ.
Not enough time
to write?
Cut and paste
the TEXT OF LETTER TO MPS / MLAs (below) into your word processing
software...
Like Signing
Petitions?
Electronic petition to support federal Bill C-287: www.fishtomato.com
Downloadable blank petition form
for British Columbia's Bill 18 (PDF 4k). Circulate at your office, among
friends, then mail or fax to:
Hon. Rich Coleman
Solicitor General & Minister of Public Safety
P.O.
Box 9053, Stn. Prov. Govt,
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2
fax: 250-356-8270
TEXT OF LETTER TO MPS
Dear Mr/Ms____________________:
With this letter,
I wish to express my strong support of legislation for mandatory labelling
of genetically engineered (GE) food in Canada. I ask you, as my representative
in Parliament, to work toward renewed efforts to implement the substance
of Bill C-287 referred again to committee in October 2001.
There are several
good reasons why mandatory labelling should become law.
Protecting Social
Values
Canadian society is increasingly influenced by the values of commerce
- values which are highly specialized, narrowly focused, and often ignore
broader and more complex social concerns. For example, with respect
to a crop that is genetically engineered to have a longer shelf life,
the citizen is expected to accept the idea that one specific economic
benefit outweighs all actual and possible risks to health and the environment.
Possible risks are expecially troubling. In itself, technology is neither
failsafe nor ethical, and problems arising from new ones are sometimes
unanticipated and occasionally unimaginable. Widespread disbelief in
the reality of human-induced climate change is a case in point.
Product labelling
is a means to exercise one's right to know and choose our future under
such conditions. Mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods
would recognize Canadians' right to choose what we eat - for ethical,
health and environmental reasons.
Ninety Per Cent
in Favor
Canadians want to know which foods are genetically engineered. Top of
mind awareness of this issue for Canadians rose from 35 per cent in
1999 to 70 per cent in 2000. Independent and government polls from 1995-2000
have consistently shown that more than 90 per cent of Canadians want
GE food labelled.
Legal Precedents
Canada has a regulatory precedent for mandatory labelling. The Royal
Society of Canada stated that "Pre-packaged foods containing more
than 10% of irradiated ingredients must list every such ingredient on
the label, preceded by the statement 'irradiated' (Food and Drug Regulation
Section B.01.035.6). Thus, the argument that there is no precedent for
process-based labelling in Canada is not accurate." (Royal Society
of Canada Report, 2001, p.223)
Meeting World
Standards
Mandatory labelling is rapidly becoming a global standard. Japan, China,
Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and 14 other EU nations. Australia/New
Zealand, Indonesia, and South Korea have all implemented, or are implementing,
mandatory labelling. More than 30 countries around the world have taken
action on labelling GE food products and imports, with half of these
decisions occurring within the last year. In addition, the CODEX Commission
of the United Nations is developing international standards for labelling
GE food. Recently, Canada signed the Biosafety Protocol that also calls
for a mandatory labelling system for international trade. Canada is
falling behind in the trend toward labelling GE food, with potentially
negative impacts on our export markets.
Canadians Not
Protected by Current Biotech Regulations
The federal government commissioned an independent panel of scientific
experts organized by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) to look at our
system of regulating food biotechnology. Their report outlined many
inadequacies of the Canadian regulatory regime and made 53 recommendations
for overhauling our system. Some commentators have suggested that the
report calls only for voluntary labelling, but this ignores the fact
that the RSC also said "that these conclusions are premised upon
the assumption that the other recommendations of this Report concerning
the conditions for the effective assessment and management of the risks
of GM organisms are fully implemented by the regulatory agencies."
(RSC, p.225). The government has not enacted any of the 53 recommendations
and has made no commitment to do so. In this context, immediate mandatory
labelling is the responsible option.
Voluntary Labelling
a Poor Option
The government's Committee on Voluntary Labelling of Foods Obtained
or Not Obtained Through Genetic Modification has been boycotted by 28
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) since it began in November 1999.
NGOs argue that the panel should be discussing mandatory labelling.
In addition, the approach of the committee is to put responsibility
for labelling on companies producing non-GE food, not those using GE
food. This panel has spent a year and a half avoiding the real issue
and has no completion date scheduled. Suspicions regarding a bias on
the committee were confirmed last year when the panel's chair, Lee-Ann
Murphy, left her position to become a public relations officer for the
biotechnology company Monsanto.
As a concerned member
of your constituency, I ask you to give serious consideration to these
concerns when debating the merits of mandatory labelling of GE food.
I urge you to vote in its favour.
Yours Sincerely,
(Name)
TEXT OF LETTER
TO MLAs (BC)
Dear Mr/Ms____________________:
With this letter,
I wish to express my strong support of the proposed Genetically Engineered
Food Labelling Act (Bill 18) which would implement mandatory labelling
of genetically engineered food in British Columbia. I ask you, as my
representative in the Legislature, to advocate further development of
the bill and to vote in its favour.
There are several
good reasons why this bill should become law.
Protecting Social
Values
British Columbians are increasingly influenced by the values of commerce
- values which are highly specialized, narrowly focused, and often ignore
broader and more complex social concerns. For example, with respect
to a crop that is genetically engineered to have a longer shelf life,
the citizen is expected to accept the idea that one specific economic
benefit outweighs all actual and possible risks to health and the environment.
Possible risks are expecially troubling. In itself, technology is neither
failsafe nor ethical, and problems arising from new ones are sometimes
unanticipated and occasionally unimaginable. Widespread disbelief in
the reality of human-induced climate change is a case in point.
Product labelling
is a means to exercise one's right to know and choose our future under
such conditions. Mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods
would recognize British Columbians' right to choose what we eat - for
ethical, health and environmental reasons.
Ninety Per Cent
in Favor
Canadians in general want to know which foods are genetically engineered.
Top of mind awareness of this issue rose from 35 per cent in 1999 to
70 per cent in 2000. Independent and government polls from 1995-2000
have consistently shown that more than 90 per cent of Canadians want
GE food labelled.
Legal Obligations
Under the Constitution Act (1867) BC has jurisdiction to legislate on
matters of property and civil rights. This has been interpreted to include
consumer protection and information. British Columbia also has authority
to legislate on local matters such as health and the environment. While
federal labelling legislation may be preferable due to considerable
movement of food across provincial borders, the federal government is
not at this time pursuing a policy of mandatory labelling. Instead,
it is sponsoring a Canadian General Standards Board Committee (see below).
To date, the Committee's progress has been very slow.
Not Protected
by Current Federal Regulations
The federal government commissioned an independent panel of scientific
experts organized by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) to look at our
federal system of regulating food biotechnology. Their report outlined
many inadequacies of the Canadian regulatory regime and made 53 recommendations
for overhauling our system. Some commentators have suggested that the
report calls only for voluntary labelling, but this ignores the fact
that the RSC also said "that these conclusions are premised upon
the assumption that the other recommendations of this Report concerning
the conditions for the effective assessment and management of the risks
of GM organisms are fully implemented by the regulatory agencies."
(RSC, p.225). The government has not enacted any of the 53 recommendations
and has made no commitment to do so. In this context, immediate mandatory
labelling is the responsible option.
Federal Labelling
Policy Inadequate
The Federal government's Committee on Voluntary Labelling of Foods Obtained
or Not Obtained Through Genetic Modification has been boycotted by 28
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) since it began in November 1999.
NGOs argue that the panel should be discussing mandatory labelling.
In addition, the approach of the committee is to put responsibility
for labelling on companies producing non-GE food, not those using GE
food. This panel has spent a year and a half avoiding the real issue
and has no completion date scheduled. Suspicions regarding a bias on
the committee were confirmed last year when the panel's chair, Lee-Ann
Murphy, left her position to become a public relations officer for the
biotechnology company Monsanto.
Meeting World
Standards
Mandatory labelling is rapidly becoming a global standard. Japan, China,
Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and 14 other EU nations. Australia/New
Zealand, Indonesia, and South Korea have all implemented, or are implementing,
mandatory labelling. More than 30 countries around the world have taken
action on labelling GE food products and imports, with half of these
decisions occurring within the last year. In addition, the CODEX Commission
of the United Nations is developing international standards for labelling
GE food. Recently, Canada signed the Biosafety Protocol that also calls
for a mandatory labelling system for international trade. The Federal
Government is falling behind in the trend toward labelling GE food,
with potentially negative impacts on export markets.
As a concerned member
of your constituency, I ask you to give serious consideration to these
concerns when considering or debating the merits of Bill 18. I urge
you to vote in favour of its implementation.
Yours Sincerely,
(Name)
The following
organizations have urged the federal government to adopt mandatory labelling
legislation for foods containing genetically modified organisms:
Action Reseau Consommateur
Amies de la Terre de Quebec
Animal Alliance of Canada
Atlantic Canada Organic Regional Network
BC Biotechnology Circle
Biotech Action Montr‚al (BAM)
Biotech Working Group, MB
Blue-Green Society
Bringing Youth Toward Equality Society - Yukon
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) - Manitoba
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) - ON
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility
Canadian Environmental Defence Fund - Toronto
Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA)
Canadian Federation of Students
Canadian Health Coalition
Canadian Institute For Environmental Law And Policy
Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Organic Growers
Caretakers of the Environment
Certified Organic Associations of B.C.
Citizen Environment Alliance
Clearinghouse Group
Club ornithologique du Madawaska
Comit‚ de l'Environnement de Chicoutimi (CEC)
Conseil central du Montr‚al metropolitain (CSN)
Conservation Council of New Brunswick
Council of Canadians
CUSO Canada
Earth Action
Enviro-Clare
Environmental Coalition of Prince Edward Island
Environmental Law Centre - Alberta
Falls Brook Centre, NB
Farm Folk / City Folk Society, BC
Federation des ACEF du Quebec
Fondation Convergence - Montr‚al
Food Action Ottawa
FoodAlert
FoodShare Toronto
Ford Alward Naturalist Association, NB
Friends of the Earth
Gander Region Environmental Group
GeneAction Toronto
Great Lakes United / Union Saint-Laurent, Grands Lacs
Green Campus Society
Greenpeace Canada
Guideposts for a Sustainable Future
Halifax Mobilization for Global Justice
Hospital Employees' Union
ICUCEC (Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Co-operative)
Island Residents Against Toxic Environments (IRATE)
Labour Environmental Alliance
MacKillop Centre for Social Justice
Mouvement Au Courant
National Farmers Union
Nature Saskatchewan
New Brunswick Partners In Agriculture
New Green Alliance
Ontario Natural Food Co-op
Organic Crop Improvement Association - NB
Organic Food Council of Manitoba
PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada
PEI Health Coalition
PEI Mobilization for Global Justice
Pender Islands (BC) Conservancy Association
People Against Nuclear Energy (and FOR a new perspective on energy)
Ploughshares Saskatoon
Poetical Asylum
Polaris Institute
Rural Advancement Foundation International, Canada
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Saskatoon Greens
Seniors Network - BC
Sierra Club of Canada
Sierra Legal Defense Fund
Sierra Youth Coalition - Northern Chapter
Society Promoting Environmental Conservation, BC
Students for Environmental Action
Tantramar Environmental Alliance, NB
The Garden Institute of Alberta
The Green Campus Society, Regina, SK
The Ram's Horn, BC
Tusket River Environmental Protection Association (NS)
United Church of Canada
Univ. of Manitoba Recycling & Env. Group
World Society for the Protection of Animals
Zoocheck Canada
back
to Genetic Engineering Index
