For years now, Canadians have demanded that Ottawa do a more thorough job of assessing the long-term implications of the current proliferation of genetically engineered (GE) foods in Canada. Requests ranging from a mandatory labelling policy for foods containing GE ingredients to long-term testing on human and environmental health have been dismissed.

In fact, far from being deterred from championing GE foods, Ottawa has now joined forces with the Bush administration in suing the European Union to force them to open their doors to our GE imports. All of this is being done in the name of Canadians everywhere.

Faced with Ottawa’s inflexibility, many communities have decided to take matters into their own hands. From coast to coast, including the territories, citizens are meeting with their municipal representatives demanding that their communities pass municipal resolutions calling for severe restrictions on the cultivation and the marketing of GE foods within their city/ town limits.

Canadians are not alone in this campaign. In countries such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and within the European Union, many have taken on the same approach. All share the belief that nothing short of a massive grassroots mobilization from one community to another will stop to the genetic engineering of our food supply.