Minister for Agriculture and Food- North American Visit

Minister for Agriculture and Food — NORTH AMERICAN VISIT

807. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the minister representing the Minister for Agriculture and Food:

I refer to the minister’s recent visit to North America to learn more about the impact of genetically modified organisms in agriculture.

(1) Will the minister please table a list of people whom he met with and their occupations during his fact-finding mission?

(2) Can the minister please list the organic farmers he met, if any?

(3) What were the concerns of these farmers, if any?

(4) Did the minister receive any gifts or free services from Monsanto or any other GM companies, farmers, scientists or other specialists?

Hon NORMAN MOORE replied:

On behalf of the Minister for Child Protection, I thank the member for some notice of this question.

(1) On his recent trip to North America, the minister met with approximately 90 people. This included government and industry organisation representatives, as well as university academics and private companies. A detailed list will be provided in the minister’s travel report.

(2) The minister did not meet any organic growers. However, he met a number of non-GM growers, including Harry Cope and Rusty Lee from Missouri, and spoke with non-GM grower Garnet Martin from Saskatoon, among others. He also discussed organic and non-GM issues with industry representative groups such as the American Farm Bureau and US Wheat Associates; government officials, including the Saskatchewan agriculture minister and the Canadian opposition spokesman; and grain consultant Marlene Boersch. He left a number of messages by phone with the vice-president of the National Farmers Union in Canada to discuss the organic grower issue, but he was unavailable and did not return his calls.

(3) None of the non-GM farmers indicated a concern about the safety of GM crops, and all were comfortable with the coexistence of GM and non-GM crops. Concerns were raised about the cost of GM seed and the nature of contracts with seed suppliers. Harry Cope also voiced concern about the development of glyphosate weeds on his farm.

(4) No.