Farmers need Bill C-474:

• “Bill C-474 is the first step in offering some protection in the future for Canadian family farms. Market acceptance must be made part of the evaluation process and incorporated into the Seeds Regulation Act.” - Kelvin Einarson, Director and Secretary Treasurer, Manitoba Forage Seed Association Inc.

• “That's the job of this room: to look for ways of providing protection for the consumer and the producers who are out there. This is the best thing we've seen come along.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “The last thing I want in my farm is a bin full of something that there's no market for.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “Forage producers support Bill C-474 because we believe it would have the ability to protect the alfalfa industry from the truly dangerous effects of introducing GMO varieties that are not approved by our customers.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “Before considering the introduction and release of GMO forage seed, there are a number of questions that we feel need to be asked. Is there a significant market in Canada or the world for GMO forage seed? What will be the effect on profitable Canadian export markets with the release of GMO forage seed? Who will realize the greatest gains and profit the most by releasing such varieties? Who will suffer the greatest economic losses with release of GMO varieties? Lastly, if the forage seed export industry collapses, which in turn will shrink the industry and make it far less viable, who will be accountable for those losses?” - Kelvin Einarson, Director and Secretary Treasurer, Manitoba Forage Seed Association Inc.

• “We see Bill C-474 as a way to plug a hole in a leaky industry.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “There's a major failure here.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “…through some bizarre way, CFIA manages to approve an event that makes absolutely no sense at all. Where is our protection? Where is our protection?” - Kurt Shmon, President, Imperial Seed Ltd.

• “…the point is that from the producer's point of view, we have attempted to express our need to stop Roundup Ready alfalfa. Clearly, the regulations and the laws in place fail miserably on this point. We need a regulation that gets us there. We have been searching for that. This is from us, from producers.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “At the end of the day, we've proven that we do not have a regulatory system in place to control the straight economic desires of the corporations. The problem is that we're constantly going to be subjected to their economic desires and not ours.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “The perception that Canada is a pristine and clean environment for the production of food is slowly being eroded. The introduction of unwanted GMOs is affecting not only the direct sale of crop and seed production, but also the sale of value-added products. I want to point out that although there is no question that the Triffid flax situation has cost Canadian farmers and exporters a lot of money and their reputation, it has cost our customers, who then move that flax into value-added production, a far greater amount of money. Those customers will not easily forget what they have paid for buying Canadian.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “We further believe that the market impact analysis required by this bill will be positive, as GMO developers will focus the work and investments on traits that our customers want and will accept. Through the passing of this bill and the establishment of a regulatory body that is stakeholder-driven, Canada would have the opportunity to enhance its domestic and export leadership in agriculture.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “The most important and biggest thing I have found from everybody I've spoken to is “pass the bill”. That's number one. There's not much fear of the bill, although there's a lot of fear in the discussion out there. There's a very interesting discussion from a political point of view. There's a lot of discussion out there about the fear of what could happen. It's not about the bill.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “The bill is perfect the way it stands. It's a perfect requirement. Why would you produce anything with no market for it?” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “We have a vested interest in all these other crops as well as these niche market crops and we are standing up and saying that this is the closest you've come up with. It's your responsibility, in this room, to help us get to where we need to be.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

We must pay attention to our markets:

• “You should be going to your customers first and asking, “What is it that you want?”. The customer is always right. I don't care who you are.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “We need to be able to deliver to buyers the product they want. It is not our job to determine if their demands are valid or not. If the buyer accepts our product, the trade will flourish. If the buyer says “no” on the basis of the presence of GMOs, we have to ask ourselves if we have the capacity and the ability to produce and deliver the desired non-GMO products. To keep and expand those markets, we cannot ignore the regulatory decisions made in other countries.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “As an exporting nation, we have to be prepared to produce what our customers not only require but also demand. If this means GMO free seed, we have the choice to provide it or lose the market.” - Kelvin Einarson, Director and Secretary Treasurer, Manitoba Forage Seed Association Inc.

• “One of our large trading partners, the European Union, has also made it very clear: they will not accept any non-approved GMO seeds. The market has spoken.” - Kurt Shmon, President, Imperial Seed Ltd.

• “We've all heard the comment that countries that currently have a zero tolerance policy to GMO seed need to change the policy and allow certain contamination at low levels, but what gives Canadian agriculture the right to dictate to countries what policies they should agree to?” - Kelvin Einarson, Director and Secretary Treasurer, Manitoba Forage Seed Association Inc.

• “The interesting part of this growth factor [of organic industry] is that it's the consumer voting with his dollar, and that's a very powerful thing. Those are the guys who elect the people in this room.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

The current system benefits Monsanto:

• “…the point is that we have a situation where we have a large corporate entity that does not care about the farmer's ability to market that product. They are moving that product, specifically the Roundup Ready alfalfa, and pushing that thing through regardless of market resistance from the producer and the consumer end.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “It's not a matter of whether it's bad for you or not. Does the public want Monsanto products? Is Monsanto or CFIA going to accept responsibility for their gene escape? That is the question. If they accept responsibility and I can turn around and sue them for my millions of dollars lost, and my farmers can sue them because their technology is on our land where we don't want it, if they will accept responsibility, I don't think we would be having this argument.” - Kurt Shmon, President, Imperial Seed Ltd.

• “Canada's science-based approach works very well for the domestic marketers of seed, the Monsantos, the Syngentas, and the Bayer CropSciences, but what does it do for the producer? This approach does not take into consideration what the producers want, nor does it address what the market wants. These are the two most important issues and they are absent from the registration process.” - Kurt Shmon, President, Imperial Seed Ltd.

• “Our science-based ideas are not adequate. The science-based decision-making process considers only the relative safety of the product compared to the non-transformed species. There is no assessment of the monetary impact the GMO product will have on the marketplace. Where are the negative impacts belonging to the agronomic performance? They are ignored and covered with the statement, “Let the market decide”. The market has decided. And the answer is no. Allowing only this so-called science based approach does nothing but create a monopoly.”- Kurt Shmon, President, Imperial Seed Ltd.

• “We see instances in which Monsanto is not afraid to sue the producer if the producer uses its technology without Monsanto's approval. I would like to think that the regulatory process that approved it, CFIA, or Monsanto itself would be the ones that I could turn around and sue if their gene entered my land and my seed crop where it is unwanted. Or is it just a one-way street so that they can sue whoever they choose to but they don't have to take responsibility for their technology?” - Kurt Shmon, President, Imperial Seed Ltd. (“It's been a one-way street thus far. There is no question about that. Nobody is denying that.” – reply from Hon. Wayne Easter, Liberal Party Agriculture Critic)

Rebuttal to industry’s arguments against Bill C-474:

• “The large developers of seed threaten Canada by saying that if Bill C-474 passes they will no longer be interested in developing seed for Canada. In my opinion, this is simply a threat that will not be acted upon. Seventeen million acres of canola will be planted in Canada this year and no company is going to walk away from a market that large.” - Kurt Shmon, President, Imperial Seed Ltd.

• “The multinationals aren't going to leave North America in terms of the investments they have in the development of the seeds industry. Almost all of our GMO-produced crops now are tying chemical resistance to seed to enhance marketability and to enhance the bottom line for those who are involved in the marketing of those two products, the chemicals and the seed itself. It's not about getting more marketplace in the world and it's not about enhancing the bottom line for the producer.” - Jim Lintott, Chairman, Manitoba Forage Council.

• “In closing, it has been said that Bill C-474 will create another layer of “red tape” for seed companies to go through in order to sell seeds in Canada. I feel this is better than creating “red ink” on the producer's bottom line.” - Kurt Shmon, President, Imperial Seed Ltd.