Good afternoon.
Let me start up by saying thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak before you today on behalf of Vigilance OGM. We will be concentrating on Part 6 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, or CEPA, which deals about animate products of biotechnology.
You no doubt know that in 2017, Quebeckers were the first in the world to eat a genetically modified animal, which was genetically modified salmon. It's quite something to be the first in the world, especially when no one informs you of the fact.
The company made no announcement at the time and is still keeping quiet while its factory on Prince Edward Island is churning out tons of product annually that once again, winds up on our plates without warning. You will not be surprised when I tell you that our first request is that there be mandatory labelling for all genetically modified organisms, as is the case in 64 countries around the world, to compensate for the lack of transparency from the biotechnology companies.
Bill S‑5, which was over 23 years in the making, only seeks to make minor administrative changes to Part 6 which do nothing to improve the assessment process provided for in the case of genetically modified organisms. We would like to see three major amendments.
Firstly, there must be mandatory consultations in order to obtain free, prior and informed consent from first nations who might be impacted by genetically modified organisms. As you know, salmon is a highly symbolic species for almost all of Canada's first nations. They were not consulted when genetically modified salmon was approved.
Secondly, we have to shift the onus. As long as a company cannot prove that a living organism which has its equivalent in the wild can be used completely safely, the development, production, import and use of the genetically modified organism should be prohibited. Why take the risk of contaminating our ecosystems when we have non-genetically modified living organisms that do the job?
Thirdly, we need a transparent and independent assessment process. All the studies used by Environment Canada or Health Canada about consuming such products should be made available and peer‑reviewed. We can't say that our assessment system is science‑based if the science is not transparent.
As you perhaps know, there's a lot of talk about genome editing, which is a new set of tools that biotechnology companies can use. These tools will probably speed up the commercialization of genetically modified animals in Canada in the future. It is therefore essential that Canada has a solid regulatory framework in order to prevent any genetic contamination of its ecosystems.
What's more, Canada will be hosting COP15 in Montreal in two weeks. Biotechnology will be one of the issues at the heart of important negotiations. We know that biotechnology companies are heavily lobbying the Government of Canada as well as the governments of many other countries.