Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz says just because the United States has approved commercialization of genetically modified alfalfa, it does not mean it will be approved in Canada.
But he stopped short of saying it would not.
“Of course we have a separate rigorous situation that we put anything like this through here in Canada,” Ritz said in the House of Commons Feb. 2.
He was responding to a demand from New Democratic Party agriculture critic Alex Atamanenko that prime minister Stephen Harper use a meeting with U.S. president Barack Obama Feb. 4 to ask that the decision be rescinded.
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“The U.S. government’s authorization of unrestricted use of Monsanto’s genetically engineered alfalfa has put Canadian farmers at financial risk,” said Atamanenko.
“They already have been shut out of key markets over GE flax and have had to pay the price.”
Atamanenko, in a letter to Harper last week, said the American decision inevitably will affect Canadian farmers.
“If this decision is allowed to stand, it will be impossible to prevent the eventual contamination of organic, conventional and even weedy relatives of alfalfa in the U.S. and eventually in Canada.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond before Harper flew to Washington. Meanwhile, the Green Party of Canada waded into the debate, insisting that Ottawa make clear a GM alfalfa variety will not be approved in Canada.
