A national biodiversity group says Canada needs to keep genetically engineered animals out of the wild, after the federal government recently rejected several attempts to strengthen its existing laws.
Canada hasn't had any accidents with the technology, but Nature Canada senior adviser Mark Butler said we need to prevent wild animals from being exposed to engineered cousins that could breed with them, prey on them or compete with them for food.The federal government is in the midst of updating the Canadian Environmental Protection Act for the first time in 22 years.
Jalene Anderson-Baron, co-founder of Future Fields, said in a written statement in response to questions from The Canadian Press that the process balances the need to identify potential risks against the need to allow new innovations. It's up to the public to produce evidence there is a risk, without any access to the company's data, within 30 days."Imagine if there was a highway or pipeline proposal and there was two paragraphs for an environment assessment, and it's entirely voluntary, and up to the proponent," said Butler.
The risk to wild species here is low, because the fish's tropical nature isn't a good fit with Canadian winters, but Butler said Brazil's issue should be a wake-up call. In a written statement, Guilbeault's office said it plans to address the concerns at a later date. It launched a new round of consultations on the issue in the fall, which will inform any future amendments to the act."We have very little faith in the government's comments that we'll be able to do a second round of CEPA amendments, given that it's been 22 years since the last one," she said.
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