Mr. Speaker, last month, I had the opportunity to meet the members of Development and Peace, who told me about their concerns over the erosion of ancestral rights in developing countries, specifically with regard to using, storing and trading seed.
I am presenting the petition they gave to me. This petition calls on the House of Commons to commit to adopting international aid policies that support small farmers, and especially women, in order to acknowledge their indispensable role in fighting hunger and poverty, and ensure that Canada's policies and programs are developed in consultation with small farmers and that those policies protect the rights of small farmers in southern countries to store, use and freely trade their seed.