Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise on behalf of constituents of mine from Courtenay, Cumberland, Errington and Parksville who have all signed a petition. They cite that when the Plant Breeders' Rights Act was amended in 2015, farmers rang the bell that the age-old right to save seed on their own farms was being reframed as farmer's privilege, which could be taken away by regulation. They warned that future governments could side with foreign multinationals that want to force farmers to buy seed from them and pay royalties every year, and that the CFIA's proposed regulatory amendment would do just that, starting with fruit, vegetable, ornamental and hybrid varieties.
The thousands of petitioners are calling on the government to abandon this corporate paragraph and say no to proposed changes that would remove farmer's privilege for new varieties of fruit, ornamental and vegetable plants and hybrid varieties.