Wayne Easter

 

The federal Conservatives are calling on the Liberal agriculture critic to clarify his party's position on Bill C-474.

The proposed legislation would require an analysis of potential harm to export markets be conducted before the sale of any new genetically modified seed.

The bill has been before the Standing Committee on Agriculture since April, and last week, Liberal MPs on the committee, along with Bloc and NDP members voted to extend the time for reviewing the bill by another 30 days.

"We will not be supporting Bill C-474 at the end of the day," says Wayne Easter. "But we felt there needed to be a discussion. The alfalfa producers, for instance, are very concerned about genetically modified alfalfa and what it would do to their industry."

"On the other side, the research community has some concerns that Bill C-474 would shut down investment."

He accuses the Conservatives of restricting debate of the bill. "Our problem is we can't even agree on an agenda for the committee. First the Conservative chair came to us and wanted to boil this down to three days. We agreed to that. Then they wanted to go more days and now they're down to not allowing any time at all."

"I find it disappointing that the Liberal Party...supported the continuation of Bill C-474," said the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, Pierre Lemieux, in a release. "If they truly oppose this bill, as they say they do, why do they continue to support the bill at every juncture? Bill C-474 was tabled in the House of Commons almost one year ago, and it has been in front of Committee since April 2010. It is a bill that is having a detrimental impact on our agriculture industry. It is time to stabilize the agriculture industry by referring the Bill back to the House for a final vote."

Easter says they don't agree with the bill, but believe it is worthy of more discussion. "Our bottom line position is this bill does not do what we want it to do, but it is a serious debate. We need the government and political parties to come together and come forward that does meet the needs of both sides."

~ Monday, October 18, 2010 ~