Regulations

Letter – Urgent need to reinstate safety assessments and transparency for all GMOs

Today we are asking you to hear our concerns, and the concerns of many Canadians, and return to Health Canada’s initial proposal for pre-market regulation of gene edited products. Reversing the changes to regulatory guidance can and should be made immediately, before products begin to slip through unregulated. Read more

NFU and Wheat Growers call on Minister MacAulay to halt CGC move to impose export grading standards on country elevator deliveries

Today, the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the Wheat Growers Association (WGA) sent a joint letter to federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay asking him to halt the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) decision to impose export grade standards on wheat delivered to country elevators. The new rule will have a massive and long-term negative impact on prairie wheat farmers incomes. Calling this a heavy-handed move, both organizations demand the change be stopped, at least until the full impacts on all stakeholders are presented to the CGC’s Western Standards Committee. The NFU and WGA disagree on many policy matters but are united in their opposition to the decision to harmonize of primary and export standards for wheat. Read more

Joint NFU, WGA letter re CGC changes to Canadian grain grading

The National Farmers Union (NFU) and the Wheat Growers Association (WGA) disagree on many policy matters but we are united in our opposition to the harmonization of primary and export standards for wheat until further clarifying evidence of the impact on farmers and customers of Canadian grain is done, as was moved and passed by the CGC’s Western Standards Committee at their April 4 meeting. The impending CGC grade standard change has costly implications for farmers’ incomes. For example, harmonized test weight means that CWRS wheat (hard red spring wheat used for baking bread) must weigh at least 63.3 lbs/bushel when delivered to the elevator instead of the current standard of 60.1 lbs/bushel or it will be downgraded to a #2. Read more

Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill Consultation

Our fundamental concern is that Incorporation by Reference (IBR) separates law-making from democratic oversight by Parliament. The authority to use IBR transfers power to create and amend regulations from elected representatives to unelected bureaucrats who are not directly accountable to voters. Combined with a regulatory policy that gives privileged access to corporations, the proposed use of IBR for internally-generated documents enables, encourages, and may even institutionalize the influence of lobbyist working on behalf of regulated parties over public regulators who should be working for the broader public interest. This unacceptably widens the gap between those responsible to the public and those making the laws that govern the public. Read more

Science takes a back seat with federal gene editing decision

Even though they have no history of safe use in Canada or elsewhere, Agriculture Minister Bibeau announced on May 3, 2023 that Canada will exempt gene-edited plants from regulation and Read more

Take Action: Reverse CFIA decision on gene edited seed regulation!

On May 3, 2023 Agriculture Minister Bibeau approved the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulatory guidance on gene-edited genetically engineered (genetically modified or GM) plants and seed, making many of Read more

Union Farmer Newsletter: February 2023

In this issue: Advocating for farmland protection in Ontario Towards a National Agricultural Labour Strategy that works for Farmers and Farm Workers Public transit should not stop at the city Read more

Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau re President of the CFIA

Upon learning that the President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency retired effective January 20, 2022, the NFU sent the following letter to Prime Minister Trudeau. Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Read more

Next CFIA President must address regulatory capture by industry

According to the media outlet Real Agriculture, Canadian Food Inspection Agency President Siddika Mithani announced her decision to step down effective January 20, 2023 via a letter sent to colleagues Read more

Seed Regulatory Modernization – What’s it all about?

Much of Canadian farmers' success results from over a century of operating within a seed regulatory system that was designed to promote quality crops, prevent serious disease problems, and protect farmers from fraud. While there have been some changes to these regulations over the years, the basic purpose and structure of our seed regulations has remained constant over the entire lifetimes of today’s farmers. Our regulations have served us well, but if big seed corporations have their way, all this will change. The federal government’s Seed Regulatory Modernization process currently underway is a critical crossroads where global corporations seeking to control Canada’s seed for their own benefit are challenging our public interest-based seed regulatory framework. Read more