This is from the Nelson (can you say hippie?) newspaper, which is a town in British Columbia. These rural regions, as well as pretty much all of us, are profoundly affected by the GMO debate.

April 13,2010

Colin Payne, Daily News reporter

Alex Atamanenko’s private member’s bill on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is going before Parliament for second reading on Wednesday.

Bill C-474, put forward by the BC Southern Interior MP and NDP agriculture critic, calls for an export market analysis to be carried out by government before approving new genetically engineered seeds.

Atamanenko said contamination of regular farm crops with GMO crops could have significant impacts on trade with many countries that have laws against genetically modified foods. Canada currently has no such laws.

After the first reading and two hours of debate in the House of Commons, Atamanenko is expecting support from his own party, the Bloc Quebecois, but the Conservatives are against the bill and Liberal support is questionable.

“The Conservatives do not want it to go to committee (the next step before the bill reaches its third reading),” Atamanenko said. “And though they have some reservations, apparently the Liberals want it to go to committee.

“But we’ll just have to see. Sometimes there’s a lot of pressure from the biotech industry for it not to go to committee. It’s possible there will be some Liberals who don’t show up (for the vote).”

Atamanenko said he’s happy to see his initiative debated in the House of Commons and feels it’s an opportunity to open up a larger debate about GMOs.

“It’s a significant bill because it pinpoints the whole question around GMOS,” Atamanenko said. “We need to have some kind of assessment of what will happen to farmers if there’s contamination by GMOs, especially with GMO alfalfa and wheat technically approved for release.

“We need to have that analysis and debate about GMOs in Canada.”

colin@nelsondailynews.com