The present battle over genetically engineered (GE) crops in B.C. often has both sides talking past each other. It is unlikely that many opinions are changed in this way.
Perhaps some new research will change a few minds. A new report in the Journal of Economic Entomology demonstrates the utility of one particular GE crop, Bt corn.
Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a common soil bacteria. Organic agriculture has been using this natural bacteria-insecticide for decades.
Bt bacteria produce a variety of proteins that are toxic to selected pest species. Some Bt proteins target beetles, some moths and in the case of this story corn earworm.
In GE crops only the desired protein is transferred to give pest resistance to the crop. Researchers in the U.S. looked at Bt sweet corn and found it had far less corn earworm damage than non-GE sweet corn that was sprayed with broad spectrum insecticides.
This multi-year, multi-state examination of Bt sweet corn clearly demonstrates the improved yields (with reduced insect damage) and reduced insecticide use with this GE crop.
One further point is the health benefits of reduced insect damage found in Bt corn. When corn is damaged by insect pests it often also becomes infected with fungi that produce some very nasty toxins.
Research has also demonstrated Bt corn has greatly reduced levels of fumonisin B1 (cause fetal neural tube defects by blocking the folic acid metabolism).
This type of healthier corn with less environmental impact should be applauded by everyone. Yet the UBCM recently voted to ask the provincial government to ban GE crops. It is very difficult to understand how anyone can be fighting to ban this type of win-win outcome from this genetically engineered crop.
ROBERT WAGER, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo
What the public needs to be asked about Site C dam
The recent poll indicating public support for a new hydroelectric dam (i.e. Site C Dam) if it is done correctly, raises many serious questions.
Were respondents asked if they were willing to have their Hydro rates double if the province spends the $7.9 billion (plus cost overruns) to build Site C Dam?
Were respondents asked if they were willing to see nearly 16,000 acres of top quality farmland flooded and permanently lost for food production?
Were respondents informed that there has been no independent economic analysis done of the costs and benefits of building this dam?
Were respondents aware that the province has removed public scrutiny of this project from the BC Utilities Commission which has twice turned down Site C Dam as too expensive and not needed?
I suspect that the majority of the people polled were largely uninformed about the serious negative consequences of this massive and hugely expensive project.
LYNN CHAPMAN, Roberts Creek
Giving up plastic is ‘extreme,’ but enlightens
Re: Plastic not the worst environmental culprit, Letters, Oct. 9
Candace Clarke’s response to Taina Uitto’s article about eliminating plastics from her life misses the point. While praising plastics, she would have us demonize cotton. This is a curious position.
Like the young B.C. couple who also did the “extreme” thing and ate only food grown from within 100 miles, Uitto’s life without plastics serves to educate and invigorate a sleepy populace. We get to again ask ourselves: how can I live more responsibly? How can I better care for the Earth and the oceans?
The 100-mile diet was the determining factor for me to eat seasonally and locally. I am not perfect at it. I buy lemons and coffee and chocolate, but if it’s grown in B.C., I choose it rather than buying an import.
I am also grateful to Uitto for doing the “extreme” thing. She reminded us about the huge problem of plastics in the oceans and of how ubiquitous it is in our lives and sourced out alternatives. I won’t be perfect at eliminating plastic but I will source out alternatives far more than I have already done.
Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch was also revolutionary and extreme and so very necessary. Women’s rights needed a push from someone who had foresight and wisdom enough to really get the world on a different path. That is the way change comes about.
Sure, as Clarke writes, Uitto could have pushed recycling and reducing and yes, that wouldn’t have landed her a spot in the paper and a blog, but the point here is that we needed her message and she had the courage and the resolve to do something revolutionary for the good of the planet and tell us about it. Thank you, Taina Uitto.
SHEILA GRADIE, North Vancouver
McMartin column shines light on married love
Re: Letters of love, Column, Oct. 10
Congratulations to Pete McMartin for his uplifting column. I plan to use it for talks (I am a Catholic priest). I will also spread the link to that article. It shows a great example of married love.
FATHER FERNANDO MIGNONE, Catholic chaplain, SFU, Vancouver
Prosecution of marijuana users is immoral
Re: Is prohibition of cannabis worth the cost?, Column, Oct. 8
Sensible B.C. is undertaking an Elections B.C. authorized initiative to effectively end the prosecution of adults for the simple possession of up to an ounce of marijuana.
Recommending support for the petition and possible referendum, Barbara Yaffe found, “it’s all about the money.” I believe there are more compelling reasons to support Sensible B.C.
Millions of dollars are spent investigating, arresting, prosecuting and punishing adults for simple possession of cannabis while murders remain unsolved and other serious threats to Canadians go uninvestigated due to lack of resources.
The Sensible B.C. initiative could free up those resources, not for cost savings, but to improve public safety.
More compelling however is the harm done to British Columbians by prosecution. Every year thousands of lives are irreparably damaged by criminal convictions for simple possession. These charges doubled between 2005 and
Charges and convictions can result in termination of employment, create barriers to employment, expose otherwise law abiding citizens to an array of criminal influences and prohibit travel among other adverse effects.
All of these are damages inflicted on Canadians by their government for behaviour that has been legalized in nearby Washington State.
These actions by the Canadian government are an immorality that can be corrected by the Sensible B.C. initiative.
Yaffe states that support for Sensible B.C. is a slam-dunk for pragmatic economic reasons. For many, it is self-evident as a moral imperative.
ERNIE GORRIE, Cowichan
Interim agreements with First Nations needed
Treaty making is very complicated and difficult work. It requires the alignment of vision and extraordinary leadership of the three parties involved: First Nations, Canada and British Columbia.
The choice is not between long-term treaties and short-term economic measures; both types of agreements need to be in play.
For honourable completion and finality, all pieces of a comprehensive treaty must be negotiated and in place before one has a treaty.
But since this is hard to achieve and time consuming, incremental and interim agreements are necessary good faith milestones.
First Nations cannot wait for a final treaty that might take decades while natural resources are extracted from their traditional territories with little or no benefit to them. Canada and B.C. need to enable development activities to occur while treaties are being negotiated. Interim agreements done well can keep parties out of court, away from blockades and at the table building relationships and negotiating durable and lasting treaties.
PAUL KARIYA, Former executive director, BC Treaty Commission Langley
Why Southlands shouldn’t be developed
Re: Time to connect land-use, transit policies, Column, Sept. 28
Two weeks ago Bob Ransford presented his view on the connection between land-use and transit.
His arguments made sense and, from what we see in Vancouver, developments are indeed springing up along the Canada Line, near SkyTrains and soon will rise near the approved Evergreen Line. Folks will abandon their cars and jump on a train instead.
I fail to understand why Ransford has in the past expressed support for the proposed development on Southlands, in Tsawwassen (he’s been seen at public meetings).
The Southlands, which is in Metro’s green zone, is not adequately served by transit.
Only two rush hour bus trips to the Canada Line are available to Boundary Bay residents, and it’s a long trip (never mind that seats are rarely available). Parents need to drive students to the local high school,
I see no connection between transportation infrastructure and this proposed development, one of the reasons I so strongly oppose it. I guess folks would cycle to Vancouver?
TransLink advised me some time ago that it plans no new services here, no money I suppose. Surely what little agricultural land remains should be kept and used for that purpose!
JEAN WIGHTMAN, Delta