Mr. Speaker, the government's decision in favour of voluntary labelling of foods derived from biotechnology is a good initial step in the right direction. That option is already available to food companies. So far, however, most companies are not labelling their genetically modified foods.
Last week 200 Health Canada scientists declared that they do not have the capacity to assess the safety of genetically modified products. At present labelling is mandatory only when Health Canada has identified a health concern.
I therefore urge the responsible minister to make labelling of all genetically altered foods mandatory because Canadians want to know what is and what is not genetically modified.