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The Leader-Post
Sask. government opposes GM wheat by Jason Warick The Saskatchewan government is adding its voice to the growing chorus of opposition to genetically modified (GM) wheat, breaking its silence on the highly controversial issue. Officials from Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization plan to send a letter soon to Ottawa to outline their concerns. The provincial government is a strong supporter of agricultural biotechnology, but officials worry about the potentially devastating impact GM wheat could have on the Prairie farm economy. Canadian wheat exports total nearly $3 billion per year. The federal government is considering letting agribusiness giant Monsanto sell its GM wheat to Canadian farmers. In an interview with the Saskatchewan News Network, Jim Stalwick of Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization said there are "a number of pressures building" around the GM-wheat issue, and the government feels compelled to speak out. "The (Saskatchewan) government has a view that it should not be approved until the market concerns are addressed and the agronomic environmental concerns as well," said Stalwick, manager of the department's strategic planning unit. "Clearly we're monitoring it." Stalwick confirmed the Saskatchewan government will write to Ottawa in the near future." The province fears federal regulators will only look at the narrow scientific issues around GM wheat and ignore the massive economic consequences. More than 80 per cent of the countries surveyed this year by the Canadian Wheat Board said they won't accept any GM wheat. If GM wheat was grown in Canada, these countries could boycott all Canadian wheat, critics say. This is because there is no effective way to segregate GM and non-GM wheat for export. Canada's entire system would be perceived as contaminated. Monsanto has promised not to sell any GM wheat seed to Canadian farmers until markets are more accepting. But Japan, Europe and others might not wait until GM wheat is actually planted. Federal approval might be enough for them to close their borders to Canadian wheat, wheat board officials predict. The crisis in Canada's beef industry from the single case of mad cow disease in an Alberta cow shows how jittery foreign markets can be, critics say. "The buyers are afraid of (GM wheat), and the customer is always right," said Jim Hallick, a director with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) who farms near Sturgis. SARM, the wheat board, and other major farm groups are part of a large coalition demanding Monsanto withdraw its GM wheat application, but Monsanto officials have refused. The Saskatchewan Organic Directorate has gone a step further and filed a lawsuit asking the courts to block the introduction of GM wheat. Stalwick said the province is also concerned about the impact of GM wheat on soil conservation practices. Monsanto's Roundup Ready GM canola is already grown in Saskatchewan and is resistant to the herbicide Roundup. If Roundup Ready GM wheat is also grown here, proper crop rotation between GM wheat and canola could prove difficult and costly, Stalwick said. If federal regulators ignore these issues, "the provincial government will step in," he said. Darrin Qualman, executive secretary of the National Farmers Union (NFU), welcomed the provincial government's stance. "We're glad they're taking seriously the interests of family farms. It's the right position to take," Qualman said. "Nothing with this kind of potential negative impact on family farms should ever be commercialized." The federal government isn't sure whether it will consider the economic impact of GM wheat in its review. "We're looking at what role the government should play. We're at the analytical stage," said Jamie Oxley, deputy director of cross-sectoral policy development for Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. The economic impact of GM wheat was a part of the federal GM wheat review process until last year, when officials removed the clause from the regulations. Now, under intense pressure from the wheat board and others, Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief told his officials to study whether to reinstate the economic impact as a consideration in the review. Vanclief did not respond to repeated interview requests. Approval for GM wheat could even be granted before the federal department even makes up its mind on the economic issue, Oxley admitted. |