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e-311 (Genetic engineering)

E-petition
Initiated by Trevor Charles from Waterloo, Ontario

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:
  • Canada is a society that values policy based on best scientific evidence;
  • With current rate of population growth, the world will require double current food production in 50 years;
  • Crops have been genetically manipulated for over 10,000 years, resulting in the current variety of foods;
  • Transgenic technology has facilitated farming practices that significantly increase yield while reducing inputs;
  • Modern plant breeding techniques, including transgenic and genome editing, has the potential to produce crops that can be grown with reduced environmental impact, increased disease resistance and improved nutritional qualities, at a lower cost to the consumer;
  • Food produced through modern plant breeding techniques is approved for human and animal consumption following rigorous and science-based regulatory system;
  • Every major scientific and medical organization worldwide that has reviewed this subject has proclaimed modern plant breeding techniques to be as safe as other types of crop development;
  • In Canada, there is already mandatory labeling of food for nutrition and safety purposes;
  • Mandatory labeling of foods produced from crops developed using modern plant breeding techniques would provide no information about nutritional quality, safety, or impact on health or the environment; and
  • There is already a voluntary labeling system, the National Standard of Canada Voluntary Labelling and Advertising of Foods That Are and Are Not Products of Genetic Engineering.
We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to fully support continued investments in plant biotechnology, and reject any call for mandatory labeling of foods produced using ingredients that result from modern plant breeding techniques.
Government response tabled on May 1, 2017 (Sessional Paper No. 8545-421-26-10)
Open for signature
April 19, 2016, at 2:20 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
August 17, 2016, at 2:20 p.m. (EDT)
Presented to the House of Commons
Kennedy Stewart (Burnaby South)
March 9, 2017 (Petition No. 421-01200)
Government response tabled
May 1, 2017
Photo - Kennedy Stewart
Burnaby South
New Democratic Party Caucus
British Columbia