Two Letters

#1

The Honourable Gary Doer
Premier of Manitoba
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
450 Broadway
Winnipeg MB R3C 0V8

Dear Gary Doer,

My name is _. I am a _. I am writing to you today because industrial developments are advancing quickly into northern Manitoba, there is only a limited amount of time to safeguard the wilderness for future generations. Please do not waste any more time. On December 14th, 2006, six park reserves in Manitoba's spectacular north are expiring, leaving them vulnerable to intensive industrial activities such as clearcut logging and mining. Extending the park reserve designations for these areas now will allow time for the province to fulfill its obligation to work with local communities and the public toward permanent protection from ecologically harmful industrial developments.

Premier, please let me know if you will extend protection of Sturgeon Bay, Pemmican Island, Kinwow Bay, Goose Islands, Grand Island, and Pelican Islands park reserves until full and timely community and public consultations are complete. I would also like to know if you will grant the recent request from local First Nations for park reserve status for Cormorant Islands, a colonial bird nesting haven.

Sincerely,

#2

Rod Bruinooge
2855 Pembina Highway, Unit 27
Winnipeg MB R3T 2H5

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Dear Rod Bruinooge,

My name is _. I am a _. I am writing to you today because it is my conviction that the Canadian Government needs to legislate a national ban on the so-called Terminator gene technology to assure the people of Canada, particularly farmers, that Terminator will never be field tested or commercialized. A national ban is the only way to stop corrupt companies like Monsanto and Syngenta from trying to commercialize Terminator seeds in Canada. Brazil and India have both banned Terminator to protect farmers.

Terminator is an immoral, anti-farmer technology. The only purpose of Terminator is to genetically engineer seeds to make them sterile so that farmers cannot save and replant them. Because the top 10 seed companies in the world own half of the global market, companies have an immense amount of control and could incorporate Terminator into all of their seeds. Genetic seed sterilization would secure a much stronger corporate monopoly for corporations than patents — instead of suing farmers for saving seed, companies would make it biologically impossible for farmers to re-use their harvested seed.

There will always be a risk of contamination with Terminator as the pollen from Terminator plants in the first generation can spread Terminator genes to other plants. Farmers might unknowingly save and reuse seeds that are contaminated with Terminator genes and will not germinate. This would result in unexpected yield loses and farmers could lose trust in their own seed stocks. This could also happen if imported grain contains Terminator genes.

If Canada approves Terminator, it will open the door globally to Terminator and put farmers in other countries at risk. In this respect, the Government of Canada may put the entire global food supply in jeopardy.

Because Terminator offers no benefits to farmers, companies are now trying to promote Terminator by arguing that the technology could be used to stop genetic contamination. Escaped genes from genetically engineered plants are causing contamination and pose threats to agricultural biodiversity and the livelihoods of farmers. For example, Saskatchewan organic canola farmers are suing Monsanto and Bayer for GE contamination (www.saskorganic.com/oapf). However, Terminator technology is a complex system involving multiple inserted genes that all work together in a sequence. Terminator would never work well enough to be used to stop contamination. The technology would need to be 100% effective in order to be used to stop genetic contamination – anything less would allow for dangerous contamination.

I need the government to legislate a ban, because powerful corporations will always try to introduce this technology since it would ensure their monopoly over the seed supply. A legislated national ban on Terminator is the only way to stop Monsanto, Syngenta and other corporations from eventually commercializing Terminator in Canada

Sincerely,