The Guelph chapter participated in the April 9 day of action against GM alfalfa.
Several Council of Canadians chapters will be participating in the March against Monsanto Everywhere day of action. For example, the Winnipeg chapter will be participating in a picnic with organic, non-GMO food at The Forks in Winnipeg. Here are just a few good reasons, among many more, to support this worldwide day of action:
1- Monsanto’s genetically modified alfalfa could be registered for use in Canada soon; because alfalfa is a perennial plant that is pollinated by bees, genetically modified alfalfa will inevitably cross-pollinate with non-GM and organic alfalfa, threatening the livelihoods of family farmers across Canada, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=20178.
2- Last year, Monsanto and other international food and chemical conglomerates spent about $35 million to defeat Proposition 37, a proposition in California on the mandatory labelling of genetically-modified foods and a ban on the labelling or advertising of GMO foods as ‘natural’, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=17081.
3- Stuart Trew has pointed out that Monsanto and the Canada-Europe Roundtable for Business met with the European Union trade committee to lobby for the Canada-EU free trade deal; Monsanto also signed the 2009 declaration of support for the Canada-EU CETA, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=9644 and http://canadians.org/blog/?p=5395.
4- Maude Barlow has stated that Monsanto and other engineering, food and water giants seek to gain control of water in the Guarani aquifer in Brazil for their own profit, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=11987.
5- Monsanto is behind SmartStax, a genetically modified corn not assessed by Health Canada, but rather simply approved for release by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=1832 and http://canadians.org/blog/?p=7157.
6- Monsanto accused Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser of infringing on their patent rights by having Round-up Ready canola in his fields, regardless of the fact that these seeds got there accidentally, http://canadians.org/media/food/2003/08-May-03.html.
7- In 1998, three Health Canada scientists – Shiva Chopra, Margaret Haydon and Gerard Lambert – were fired for raising concerns about the safety of Monsanto’s bovine growth hormone (BGH) as a veterinary drug during testimony before a Senate committee, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=10019.
For more, go to the Facebook event page, 25 May 2013. March against Monsanto Everywhere.
