Thwarted in their attempt to launch a class action suit against the developers of genetically modified canola, organic growers remain determined to stop the commercialization of other GM crops in Canada.
“Our committee is intact, we’ve got a few bucks in the bank and we’re ready to fulfil our mandate to protect the organic sector from genetic engineering,” said Arnold Taylor, chair of the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate’s Organic Agriculture Protection Fund.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last December that it would not hear SOD’s appeal of a Saskatchewan Court of Appeal’s decision to deny the group class action status on its GM canola case.
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The group determined that the legal, financial and personal risks of pursuing individual actions were too high, bringing an end to its six-year legal battle.
As a result, Taylor said during a break at the recent Organic Connections conference, the liability issue has yet to be tested in court.
He said SOD is unlikely to go the class action route again and individual lawsuits are too risky, but somebody, somewhere will find a way to take the developers of GM canola to task for the alleged damage inflicted on the organic sector.
In the meantime, SOD has turned its attention from existing GM crops to what’s on the horizon.
“We are aware of Monsanto’s plans to introduce GMO alfalfa as a commercial crop in Canada and have decided to focus on stopping that from happening,” Taylor wrote in a November letter to SOD supporters.
The group said Monsanto and Forage Genetics International are working toward the 2012 commercial introduction of GM alfalfa, which it felt would have a devastating impact on organic farming.
The group is also watching GM wheat. The U.S. National Association of Wheat Growers wants to increase wheat yields by 20 percent in 10 years based on the assumption that GM wheat will be commercialized during that period.
