The Canadian Food Inspection Agency needs a new president because Dr. Siddika Methani resigned this week.
She has been president since February, 2019.
She ran into flak, particularly from the National Farmers Union and urban activist groups, over proposals to allow gene editing technology to be used in plant and animal breeding programs.
The NFU said her proposal was remarkably similar to a lobbying document from CropLife Canada whose members are producers of pesticides and seeds.
But there has been widespread support from the Canadian agriculture community which supports the proposal to allow gene editing technology without a heavy burden of government oversight and regulations.
The technology differs from genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) because it does not involve the transfer of genes from one species to another, such as from bacteria to plants as is the case with Roundup-Ready crops.
That’s why, for example, Dr. Vilceu Bordignon, an associate professor in the Department of Animal Science at McGill University, spoke in favour of gene editing when he addressed the Banff Pork Seminar this week.
