NFU Submits Comments to PMRA on Proposed Registration Decision PRD2014 – 20, Flupyradifurone
The National Farmers Union has consistently called on the Health Canada and the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to use the precautionary principle in regard to the evaluation and regulation of pesticides such as neonicotinoids. As Flupyradifurone is similar to neonicotinoids in many aspects, including its toxicity to beneficial insects,its systemic natureand its persistence in the environment, we again call upon you to use the precautionary principle in considering the registration of Flupyradifurone. Read our submission here.
CWB to sell itself, in secret and not necessarily to the highest bidder
National Farmers Union analysis of recent developments regarding CWB privatization, October 2014
The privatization of the CWB mandated by the 2011 “Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act” has been initiated. Recent news reports regarding one company’s efforts to raise money to buy CWB assets has opened some aspects of the largely secret process to scrutiny. The NFU has prepared an analysis of the situation. Read our report here.
NFU Presentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food regarding Bill C-18, the Agricultural Growth Act
The NFU’s careful analysis of Bill C-18, the “Agricultural Growth Act” concludes that it should not be passed because it would increase farmers’ costs, reduce farmers’ autonomy and compromise Canadian sovereignty while providing substantially increased revenue and more power and control to multi-national agri-business corporations.
Bill C-18 is an omnibus bill. Its 108 pages amend nine Acts: the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, the Feeds Act, the Fertilizers Act, the Seeds Act, the Health of Animals Act, the Plant Protection Act, the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act, the Agricultural Marketing Programs Act and the Farm Debt Mediation Act. The Bill has far-reaching implications which cannot be fully debated in the limited time available. Several very controversial measures have been incorporated into this Bill, including, but not limited to the proposed amendments to the Plant Breeders Rights Act.
Instead of introducing an omnibus bill the government should have introduced amendments to each Act in separate bills. This would have allowed full debate and the proper opportunity for this Committee to propose appropriate amendments to each bill prior to Third Reading.
The NFU recommends that Bill C-18 be defeated; that separate bills be introduced for each Act being amended, and that Canada’s Plant Breeders Rights Act be maintained in its current form.
Read the full brief here
National Farmers Union Submission to CFIA Consultation on a New Regulatory Framework for Federal Food Inspection: Overview of Proposed Regulations, August 2014.
The NFU submitted comments on the implications of the proposed regulations in regard to grain farmers. Our submission recommends that grain farmers be exempt because the food safety for grain is already fully and effectively regulated under the Canada Grain Act and Canada Grain Act Regulations. Read the full brief here.
NFU Response to Canadian Transportation Agency’s Fact Finding Questions for Stakeholders for advice to the Minister of Transport on the movement of Western grain by rail.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has been tasked with providing preliminary, timely, confidential advice to the Minister of Transport on the question of the movement of Western grain by rail. To that end, the Agency is gathering specific information and taking into account a number of factors, including:
• the anticipated rail transportation demand by corridor for western grain;
• the capacity of both CN and CP, as well as the grain handling system, to transport grain by corridor; and
• the common carrier obligations of CN and CP.
The NFU has responsed to the CTA questionnaire based on our organization’s over four decades of involvement in grain transportation policy matters. Read the full brief here.
NFU Submission to Senate on the Importance of Bees and Bee Health
The NFU presented to Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry on May 1, 2014. The submission outlined our position on neonicotinoid seed treatments, our rationale and our recommendations. The full brief can be viewed here.
NFU Brief on Bill 24, Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act
The NFU sent a brief in the form of a six-page letter to BC Premier Christy Clark on April 30, 2014 urging her government to withdraw Bill 24 and instead strengthen BC’s farmland protection legislation in the interests of farmers and food sovereignty. Read the full brief here.
NFU Comments on the Threat of Lifting the Moratorium on Permits for High Capacity Wells in PEI
The National Farmers Union District 1, Region 1 presented to the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Environment, Energy and Forestry of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown PEI, March 6, 2014
“The members of the generation which is in power must not treat the earth as something given by their parents, but rather as something borrowed from their children.” (National Farmers Union Policy G-6 #1)
Land and water are connected. Any time the NFU speaks of farmland, we make it clear that we are also speaking about all land, the water, woodlands, and the air we breathe. We are more convinced than ever that these are non-renewable natural resources which must be protected. They are not commodities to be exploited. Since our founding as a national organization, we have declared that these natural gifts were never meant to be bought and sold in the marketplace. They are meant to be cherished and protected for present and future generations.
In this submission the following points are addressed:
- The Need for the 2002 Moratorium: What has Changed?
- Not About all Farmers; Not About all Potato Farmers
- The Driving Force behind the Request to Lift the Moratorium on High Capacity Wells
- Lack of Believable Science
- Need for Wide Ranging Community Involvement
Read the full submission.
