NO PATENT OF LIFEFORMS
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Supreme Court of Canada Makes Patenting of Life Political
TORONTO – In response to the May 23, 2004 Supreme Court of Canada Decision on the Schmeiser vs Monsanto case, Connie Fogal , Leader of the Canadian Action Party, today called on the government of Canada to ban the patenting of lifeforms.
The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the judgement against Saskatchewan canola farmer Percy Schmeiser finding that he had infringed on Monsanto's patent rights to its Roundup Ready canola when he saved and planted contaminated seeds growing on his farm. The appeal required the Court to decide what constitutes patent infringement when dealing with life forms such as plants, which have the capacity to reproduce.
Fogal asserted, “This ruling in Canada's highest court dramatically points out that existing laws which the Supreme Court of Canada has interpreted and applied are dramatically out of sync with the interest of not only farmers but human beings and all life forms.”
Fogal, a lawyer, said “Courts interpret and apply laws. Governments make laws. If there is to be any meaning and point in a government of the people , it has to be that it steps in to rectify wrong law. Of course it depends on how government applies the age old test: Whose interest is to be served?? Monsanto's or the people's? The application of science for greed, or the application of science for the good of mankind?”
She added that, “the Canadian Action Party recognizes that in the face of the court decision, the only way to serve farmers and the public good is a government decree to ban the patenting of lifeforms.”
“This Court ruling exposes the need to have elected representatives who are willing to reign in the overweening rapacious power of the corporate regime that now rules the world,” Fogal asserted. “We do not have to accept this serfdom. We still have choices. We still have government capacity. All we need is Members of Parliament determined to rule in the interest of the people.
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CONTACT: Kevin Peck
(416) 535-0221
kpeck@canadianactionparty.ca
@ May 30, 2004