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Send a new action letter to support Bill C-474: Alfalfa growers support the Bill!
Jun 21, 2010
Focus: Health
Action Request: Write E-Mail
Location: Canada

Received from CBAN:

You can write a new letter to your MP instantly from http://www.cban.ca/474action

Let your MP know that on June 7th, alfalfa farmers told the House of Commons Agriculture Committee that they support the Bill C-474:

“Bill C-474 is the first step in offering some protection in the
future for Canadian family farms. Market acceptance must be made part of the evaluation process and incorporated into the Seeds Regulation Act.” - Kelvin Einarson, Director and Secretary Treasurer, Manitoba Forage Seed Association Inc.

Read a strong collection of quotes here: http://www.cban.ca/content/view/full/803

This summer you can take action in your community to support Bill
C-474 and alfalfa farmers. MPs need to hear from you this Summer and then again in the Fall, before the final vote on Bill C-474. For
information and action options check http://www.cban.ca/474

More excerpts from June 7th testimony:

“Forage producers support Bill C-474 because we believe it would have the ability to protect the alfalfa industry from the truly dangerous effects of introducing GMO varieties that are not approved by our customers.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

“The bill is perfect the way it stands. It's a perfect requirement.
Why would you produce anything with no market for it?” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

“…the point is that we have a situation where we have a large
corporate entity that does not care about the farmer's ability to
market that product. They are moving that product, specifically the
Roundup Ready alfalfa, and pushing that thing through regardless of market resistance from the producer and the consumer end.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

“In closing, it has been said that Bill C-474 will create another
layer of “red tape” for seed companies to go through in order to sell
seeds in Canada. I feel this is better than creating “red ink” on the
producer's bottom line.” - Kurt Shmon, President, Imperial Seed Ltd.

Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)
Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental Justice
431 Gilmour Street, Second Floor
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 0R5
Phone: 613 241 2267 ext.6
Fax: 613 241 2506
coordinator@cban.ca
www.cban.ca
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Posted: Jun 21, 2010 5:21am
Urgent Action Alert - Support GM Food Labeling - Take action before May 5, 2010
Apr 29, 2010
Focus: Health
Action Request: Write E-Mail
Location: Canada

Urgent Action Alert – Support GM Food Labeling - Take action before May 5, 2010.

Tell the Minister of Health that Canada must support the right of countries to label genetically modified (GM) foods. Send a letter instantly from http://www.cban.ca/labelingaction

Canada could work to shut down negotiations on GM labeling at the UN Codex meeting next week in Quebec City.

May 3-7, governments will negotiate food labeling standards at the UN Codex meeting, including recommendations on GM labeling. The US is trying to stop the negotiations from continuing, and Canada may also try to end the negotiations.

Developing countries want support from Codex for their right to label GM foods. The US and Canada want to make sure this doesn’t happen because Codex recommendations on GM labeling could protect developing countries from challenges brought through the World Trade Organization.

Canada and the US also argue that GM foods are not any different from foods created through conventional methods. This is not supported by science, including Codex’s own food safety guidelines!

Despite polls that show over 80% of Canadians want mandatory labeling of GM foods, the Canadian government continues to bow to intense pressure from the biotech industry and refuses to label GM foods.

Help protect the rights of developing countries to label GM foods! Take action before May 5, 2010 at http://www.cban.ca/labelingaction

For more updates and for information on labeling and Codex see http://www.cban.ca/labeling

This action alert was issued by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, April 29, 2010 www.cban.ca
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Posted: Apr 29, 2010 9:29am
Stop Monsanto's GE Alfalfa! Start action today,on International Peasant's Day of Struggle April 17
Apr 17, 2010
Focus: Health
Action Request: Write E-Mail
Location: United States
Please circulate this call for action. Issued: April 17, 2010

April 17 is the International Day of Peasant Struggle called by La Via
Campesina, the international small-scale farmers movement, with the
theme “Say “No” to Corporate Control of Agriculture and Food.” Stop
Monsanto’s GE Alfalfa!

This April, take Action to stop contamination.

Send some tiny alfalfa seeds to your Member of Parliament! Tell the government to stop Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. Help your Member of Parliament see how tiny alfalfa seeds really are – and why no one will be able to stop contamination if they allow Monsanto’s GE alfalfa in Canada.

Send a letter today to the Minister of Agriculture and your MP with a tiny alfalfa seed or two! Go to http://www.cban.ca/alfalfa

1. Print out our sample letter or write your own letter to the Minister and/or to your MP.
2. Look up your MP’s mailing address at www.parl.gc.ca.
3. Buy some organic alfalfa seeds at your local health food store.
Tape a few alfalfa seeds to your letter or draw a picture of this tiny
seed!
4. Post - No stamp necessary!

This action continues through the Spring –you can also:
• Organize a little alfalfa sprout stand at your local health food store (contact CBAN for an action kit).
• Screen the “The World According to Monsanto” for your community or
friends (order your copy from CBAN).

You can also work to support Bill C-474 in April and May – a Bill that
could stop GE alfalfa! For more information: http://www.cban.ca/474

For more information on GE alfalfa: http://www.cban.ca/alfalfa.

Thank you for taking action to support Canadian farmers and stop Monsanto – in solidarity with small-scale farmers across the world.

Why is alfalfa important? Alfalfa seeds are tiny but play a huge role in food and farming - that means big trouble if GE alfalfa contaminates our crops. It’s not just the green sprouts in your sandwich – alfalfa is fed to dairy and beef cows, and organic farmers use it to improve soil fertility without chemical fertilizers. GE contamination of alfalfa would severely impact the entire food system.
As well as negatively affecting conventional grain growers and livestock farmers, GE alfalfa could end organic grain and livestock
farming as we know it.

What is the Day of Peasant Struggle? On April 17th 1996, nineteen landless Brazilian peasants who were defending their right to produce food by demanding access to land were massacred by the military police. Since the massacre at El Dorado dos Carajás, every year on this date actions are organised around the world by farmers’ organisations, communities, student groups, non-governmental organizations and activists, in order to demand food sovereignty and
peasants’ rights to produce food.
La Via Campesina says that transnational corporations (TNCs) “exacerbate poverty and economic recession, worldwide. As they
consolidate their control over lands and agricultural markets, TNCs expel small farmers and peasants from their lands and reduce employment opportunities in rural areas, thereby swelling urban slums with even more desperate and unemployed families. TNCs are making huge profits while hunger and poverty are on the rise.” http://www.viacampesina.org

This action is called by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network and
endorsed by National Farmers Union http://www.nfu.ca and Union
Paysanne http://www.unionpaysanne.com , CBAN members who are also members of La Via Campesina.
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Posted: Apr 17, 2010 5:35am
[cban e-News] Event Tour: April 17-21 Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal,Toronto - Trade justice and food sovereignty
Apr 15, 2010
Come out to hear Gerard Choplin from Via Campesina Europe talk about farming, GMOs and trade - 4 events starting Saturday... the Canada-Europe Free Trade Agreement negotiations next week in Ottawa form an attack on Canadian and European farmers and the right to save seed! 

Event Tour Notice: April 17 -21 Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto

Halifax, Saturday, April 17 - International Day of Peasant Struggle in support of Via Campesina and Food Sovereignty

11:00am- March starting at the Farmer's Market (Lower Water St) Bring instruments, banners, placards, friends and family!
12:00pm- Celebration on the North Commons Food, Speakers, information, entertainment, drum circle, puppets, face painting, guerrilla gardening & goats!

Speakers include: Gerard Choplin - Via Campesina European Coordination, Members of the National Farmers Union, Local Food Activists For more info: halifaxpeasantday@gmail.com Endorsed by: Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, National Farmers Union, Via Campesina, Oxfam, CAF, KAFKA, FAC, ACORN, Food Not Bombs. NSPIRG, The Grainery

Trade Justice Now! European voices against a Canada-Europe free trade agreement

Ottawa - Monday, April 19, 7:00-9:00 pm
Saint Paul’s University Amphitheatre, 223 Main Street, Ottawa (Traduction simultanée sera fournie sur place)

Montréal - Le mardi 20 avril à 19 h
Pavillon Athanase-David de l’UQAM, local D-R200
1430, rue Saint-Denis, (angle Maisonneuve, métro Berri-UQAM)

Toronto - Wednesday, April 21, 7:00-9:00 pm
International Student Centre (Pendarvis Room), University of Toronto, 33 St. George Street (just north of College)

Food sovereignty, public services, climate justice… All are under threat from a new free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union. Haven’t heard of it? That’s because even though negotiations are halfway finished, the public is being kept in the dark.

Join us to hear three prominent European social justice activists speak about Europe’s international trade agenda and raise questions about a free trade and investment agreement with Canada.

Featuring:
Gérard Choplin, Via Campesina European Coordination, Belgium
Rolv Hanssen, Public Services International, Norway
Frédéric Viale, Attac-France, author of L’horreur européenne, France

This is the biggest, most intrusive free trade agreement Canada has ever considered. It could be nastier than NAFTA or the WTO. Negotiators are in Ottawa April 19 to 23 for what has been called the most important round of the free trade talks. They’re finalizing new rules that could affect culture, public services, environmental protection, economic development, water, health care, broadcasting policy, farmers and much more.

Presented by the Trade Justice Network.  The Trade Justice Network is comprised of a number of environmental and civil society organizations as well as trade unions that have come together to challenge the scope and process of the Canada European Union free trade negotiations, and to highlight the need for a more sustainable, equitable and socially just international trade regime. 

For more information: info@tradejustice.ca
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Posted: Apr 15, 2010 9:31am
MPs listen to Canadians ahead of industry on GM Crops
Apr 15, 2010
Subject:    [cban e-News] Release: MPs listen to Canadians ahead of industry onGM CropsDate:    4/15/2010 10:44:50 AM

Press Release
 
MPs listen to Canadians ahead of industry on GM Crops
Groups applaud MPs for moving Bill C-474 to Committee for study
 
For Immediate Release

Ottawa. Thursday, April 15, 2010 – Last night, Parliament passed Private Members Bill C-474 through second reading, in spite of intense pressure from the biotech industry. The Bill, which would require analysis of potential harm to export markets before the sale of new genetically modified (GM) seeds, will now be studied by the House of Commons Agriculture Committee.
 
“Finally MPs are taking steps to protect farmers from the economic chaos that GM crops can cause,” said Terry Boehm, President of the National Farmers Union, “GM contamination has already seriously damaged major export markets for Canadian flax farmers and would threaten the markets for our alfalfa and wheat growers.”
 
The NDP and Bloc Quebecois supports the Bill and last night Liberal Party MPs voted to allow the Bill to go to this next stage. The Conservative Party strongly opposes the Bill, though two B.C. Conservative MPs voted in favour. The Bill was introduced by Alex Atamanenko, NDP Agriculture Critic and MP for B.C. Southern Interior.
 
“Last night, the majority of MPs listened to Canadians instead of the biotech industry,” said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, “MPs will now have the opportunity to study and debate this Bill. We are witnessing the first substantive debate in Parliament over the negative impacts of GM crops.”
 
The biotech industry lobbied vigorously to stop the upcoming debate at Committee. Yet the strength of public and farmer concern over GM crops was apparent to MPs. Over 9000 thousand letters were sent from constituents in the past month asking MPs to support the Bill. At least 6 MPs were also presented with petitions.
 
Bill C-474 was supported by the National Farmers Union, which urged Parliamentarians and all Canadians, to support the Bill. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture took a cautious stance in favour of moving the Bill forward, to encourage debate at Committee.
 
“The current GM flax contamination crisis shows the value of this Bill. And the threat of GM alfalfa has made the Bill an urgent necessity,” said Sharratt. Canadian flax export markets closed in October 2009 when GM contamination was detected.
 
“We will not stand by and watch farmers struggle alone against the corporate juggernaut of biotechnology,” said Sharratt, “The time when Canadians are expected to accept GM crops without question, is over.”

-30-
 
For more information: Terry Boehm, National Farmers Union, 306 255 2880;  Lucy Sharratt, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, 613 241 2267 ext.6.



Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator 
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) 
Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental Justice 
431 Gilmour Street, Second Floor 
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 0R5 
Phone: 613 241 2267 ext.6
Fax: 613 241 2506 
coordinator@cban.ca 

Your actions worked! MPs voted for Bill C-474! (it will now be studied by the Agriculture Committee.)
For more updates and action http://www.cban.ca/474

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Posted: Apr 15, 2010 7:53am
Support Bill C-474 – before Monday March 29, 2010 - Support Canada’s Farmers! You can stop GE Alfalfa and GE Wheat!
Mar 22, 2010
Focus: Health
Action Request: Write E-Mail
Location: Canada
E-mal received from CBAN:
Action Alert. Please distribute widely.

Action Alert #2:

Support Bill C-474 – before Monday March 29, 2010 - Support Canada’s Farmers! You can stop GE Alfalfa and GE Wheat!

Write a letter to your MP instantly from http://www.cban.ca/474action  Take action this week! before March 29, 2010.

Your actions gave the Bill another chance! Private Members Bill C-474 will be debated for a second hour in Parliament March 29. The vote will happen a few days later. Even if you have already written your MP, you are encouraged to send another letter before March 29 http://www.cban.ca/474action

Your concrete action could stop genetically engineered (GE) seeds from causing chaos in Canadian farming!

Bill C-474 would require that “an analysis of potential harm to export markets be conducted before the sale of any new genetically engineered seed is permitted.” The Bill could stop GE alfalfa and GE wheat.

This Bill is critically important because, as we know from experience, the introduction of new genetically engineered (GE) crops can cause economic hardship to farmers. Farmers are at risk when GE crops are commercialized in Canada without also being approved in our major export markets.

Flax farmers in Canada are now paying a heavy price because of this exact problem. Late last year, Canadian flax exports were discovered contaminated with a GE flax that is not approved in Europe or in any of our other export markets (except the U.S.). Flax farmers actually foresaw that GE contamination or even the threat of contamination would close their export markets. That's why they took steps in 2001 to remove GE flax from the market. Despite this measure, flax farmers were not protected. The GE flax contamination closed our export markets in 2009. It has created market uncertainty and depressed prices. Farmers are also paying for testing and cleanup and may be required to abandon their own farm-saved flax seed and buy certified seed instead. These costs are an unnecessary and preventable burden.

We cannot allow GE seeds to harm our export markets. Please support Bill C-474 and protect Canada’s farmers.

Write a letter to your MP instantly from http://www.cban.ca/474action  Take action before March 29, 2010.

Bill C-474 was introduced by Alex Atamanenko, the NDP Agriculture Critic and MP for British Columbia Southern Interior.

For updates, more info and action options  see http://www.cban.ca/474 or contact Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network coordinator@cban.ca 613 241 2267 ext. 6

This action alert was issued by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) http://www.cban.ca


Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator 
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) 
Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental Justice 
431 Gilmour Street, Second Floor 
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 0R5 
Phone: 613 241 2267 ext.6
Fax: 613 241 2506 
coordinator@cban.ca 
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Posted: Mar 22, 2010 10:13am

 
 
 
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