Agriculture committee  Organic farmers on the Prairies have a lot of respect. There are 1.2 million acres of organic land in the province of Saskatchewan alone. There are 1,200 organic farmers. From my farm to town, which is seven miles, there are about three organic farmers, interspersed, and we respect each other.

Agriculture committee  I know you say it's not realistic, but it is something we need. We need to stop it, revisit it, and then start looking at where we're going to go.

Agriculture committee  But you know what? We were here first.

Agriculture committee  We use the newer varieties of crops, but we can't use genetically modified technology because it's prohibited in our standards. We can't change it; our customers, our consumers, demand that. Biotech companies say you eat what we produce or go hungry. We would never do that to our customers.

Agriculture committee  Except that I'm not talking about genetic engineering.

Agriculture committee  I'm talking about biotechnology--

Agriculture committee  It's dicey, but for sure there are differences in different crops. I know there's a good market for non-GMO soybeans—not just organic, but GMO-free soybeans—and that's coexistence, if you want to call it that. I'm not sure how they manage it because I'm not real familiar with soybeans.

Agriculture committee  Okay. I was going to jump in before this. When Wayne Easter was out in Davidson, in about 2002, on the Prime Minister's task force—a different Prime Minister—he asked me if organic agriculture could survive along with industrial agriculture. I said yes, but not with the proliferation of GMO crops.

Agriculture committee  But we benefit from technology.

Agriculture committee  No, we're not. We're not against it. We could benefit from it.

Agriculture committee  First of all, you have to understand that GMO technology is a prohibited method in organic worldwide. Understand this. This is a process-based standard. If I as a farmer grow something and, unbeknownst to me, it drifts over to someplace else and there is a low-level presence, according to the NOP, I would not lose organic status on that crop.

Agriculture committee  Wayne, you mentioned a moratorium, and I'm not sure what that would entail with alfalfa. But a little example that came over the e-mail is about the U.S. approving a corn modified for ethanol. They've approved a corn that's modified for ethanol. It breaks down its own enzyme, or whatever.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely.

Agriculture committee  First of all, the technology is flawed in the sense that it's patented. It's a life form that's patented, and it's allowed in the U.S. Canada didn't allow it until the Schmeiser decision. The Supreme Court reversed their decision on the Harvard Mouse. They allowed the patent. It's patented.

Agriculture committee  That's an important question. We had a lawsuit and there was a cross-examination of Dr. Peter Phillips, whom I think many of you know because he presented there. He's a scientist at the University of Saskatchewan. I happen to have a copy of the cross-examination, which is a very good read.