Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition signed by almost 1,000 Canadians. The petition calls on the government to implement policies that support small family farmers and farm workers around the world so they can preserve their seeds.
The threat to biodiversity and the future of food posed by policies in the agri-food industry is growing. The ratification by several countries of the most recent version of the UPOV will make illegal the ancestral rights of small family farmers to preserve, use and exchange their seeds.
It is time for this government to become a world leader in maintaining biodiversity, which is indispensable to the future of food for our families, communities and regions.