RR acountable; Foreign owners; Civil servants; Apollo etc.; Check warranty;
RR acountable
Monsanto must take responsibility for Roundup Ready genes.
Monsanto recently announced plans to expand genetically modified wheat research in Canada (“Monsanto to resume GM wheat,” WP, July 23).
Given the power that the Monsanto corporation now has in global agriculture, I believe it is important to ask questions about their behaviour, including how Monsanto deals with negative side effects of their technology.
Roundup Ready canola volunteers are becoming a serious weed in the eastern Prairies where other Roundup Ready crops are now included in the rotation. For years, RR canola plants have appeared in Manitoba RR soybean fields. What started as a nuisance is now serious, with RR canola volunteers reducing soybean yield in many cases.
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In our July survey of soybean fields between Winnipeg and Redvers, Sask., we observed RR canola volunteers in over 90 percent of fields. Soybeans were planted at least two years after the canola crop. In one instance, RR canola was grown 10 years ago. Some corn fields were also infested with volunteers. Monsanto’s response to this problem remains weak.
In an on-line alert from Monsanto (July 30, 2009), it states: “As harvest approaches, the only solution to managing volunteer RR canola is to abide by the proper swathing time for the respective crop. There are no registered herbicide control options pre-harvest, so having a strong, pro-active agronomic plan for controlling volunteer RR canola early in the season is wise management.”
This statement implies that farmers have used unwise early season management in their RR soybeans and suggests that there is nothing farmers can do now. It’s their problem.
In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Monsanto owns the RR gene, including the plants containing this gene. It appears that Monsanto is interested in the gene when it’s in a bag of seed, but not after it becomes a weed.
How did we let this happen? What future side effect will we let them get away with? Will the Canadian Food Inspection Agency finally be afforded new laws that allow full evaluation of GM side effects?
As Monsanto celebrates the new GM wheat enterprise, the rest of us should be asking questions. There may be useful GM traits out there, but their side effects need to be fully understood. We also need to hold the owners of the GM traits responsible.
On this account, Monsanto has failed. In fact, they appear not even to be trying.
– Dr. Martin Entz,
Department of Plant Science,
University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg, Man.
Foreign owners
Nettie Wiebe (Opinion, July 30) laments ulterior motives of countries and corporations gaining control for food producing lands in other countries.
One can assume those with capital can see the opportunity to increase the production of these lands and that export returns hopefully would trickle down to the so-called peasant. If not, arrangements can be changed.
Seems to me the millions starving in Zimbabwe, once a food exporting country, would look favourably upon someone coming in and restoring the once lush agricultural production that was destroyed by esteemed president Mugabe and his ilk.
No need for the columnist to be going tsk tsk, casting aspersions at investors and that exploitation surely must be hidden there somewhere.
– Victor H. Pankoski,
Saskatoon, Sask.
Civil servants
It’s difficult to comprehend the actions of the (Brad) Wall government’s firing of career civil servants and replacing them with inexperienced Saskatchewan Party appointees. It’s proven unproductive for they’ve had to terminate some of these political appointments. It has dismissed two deputy ministers of social services along with Terry Coleman, deputy minister of municipal affairs.
Wall replaced the CEOs of the crowns and Saskatchewan Labour Board and introduced regressive labour legislation, i.e. Essential Services and Bill 80.
The July 14 StarPhoenix reports that “government replaces all five members of Minimum Wage Board.” Ron Norris, minister of labour, says “these are positions we thought needed to be refreshed.” Chances for increasing or indexing minimum wage, a Calvert government plan, seem remote.
Wall then focused on replacing all members of Saskatchewan’s health boards with government appointees.
On June 16, the StarPhoenix reported that the Wall government had replaced all the non-governmental board members on the Meewasin Valley Authority. Its mandate will focus on marketing and tourism rather than heritage and environment.
Seemingly, Saskatchewan Party government considers an experienced work force as inconsequential.
When Wall wants business-friendly policy recommendations, he sets up unelected, undemocratic entities whose members mainly represent corporations, mining companies and Chamber of Commerce. Enterprise Saskatchewan, Sask. First, Uranium Development Partnership, Innovation Saskatchewan and an arms length working group (U of S, Cancer Centre and Saskatchewan government) are such entities.
Corporatism is a name used to describe a government run by corporations. Your dictionary gives another name for such governments.
– Helen May Baker,
Saskatoon, Sask.
Apollo etc.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11mission. July 20, 1969, was the day when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, while Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin commanded the module and relayed the messages back to earth. It was the epitome of many years of American scientific and aeronautical research and development.
The series of Apollo lunar missions was made possible because of the development of high tech fuels and propulsion. Today the Saskatchewan Party government of premier Brad Wall is opening a door for Saskatchewan and placing it on a silver platter for the scientific community to reap from.
The proposed nuclear powered generating station will be built if common sense rules over emotions.
Many of the anti nuclear emotions and sentiments date back to the late 1960s. While the American astronauts were walking on the moon, Canadian hippies were protesting the Vietnam War, and venerating people like Trudeau as he performed pirouettes and insulted Western Canada on national TV.
Perhaps if they had paid a little more attention to the scientific knowledge that the Americans were gaining from the lunar missions, we’d have our nuclear powered plant in Saskatchewan today.
Modern electrical generating systems work on a grid system. When you strike an arc with your welder in Shamrock, Sask., part of the energy may be derived from a nuclear powered station in Pennsylvania, a coal-fired station in Colorado and a wind generator in Alberta. Like it or not, nuclear power is here to stay.
As for the Vietnam War, that’s another story for another time.
– John Hamon,
Gravelbourg, Sask.
Check warranty
The Western Producer published a letter from a man in Farmington, B.C. (Open Forum, Jan. 15) about putting gasoline into diesel to make (engines) easier to start. I’m sure they did but this practice damages injectors and fuel pumps.
Anyone thinking of doing this should check with diesel engine manufacturers such as Cat or Cummins.
– Ernie Gibson,
Forest Grove, B.C.
