08/29/2025
Right now, the Liberal government is proposing changes to Canada’s Plant Breeders’ Rights Regulations. These changes would tip the balance of power even further toward giant multinational corporations like Bayer and Syngenta—at the expense of family farmers across our country.
Here’s what’s at stake:
• Big companies can already patent the seeds they develop, forcing farmers into an endless cycle of buying new seed every year instead of saving and replanting from their own crop.
• Some seeds even come with so-called “terminator” genetic modification—engineered so that they won’t grow a second generation if replanted.
• While breeders and innovators deserve fair compensation for developing drought, flood, and pest-resistant crops, the farmers who put in the work to grow and harvest the food Canadians eat shouldn’t be starved out by big corporations choking off their seed supply.
This is also about timing. The government has scheduled the public consultation to end on October 18th—right in the middle of harvest season. Farmers are working around the clock in the fields, not sitting at a desk drafting submissions. Once again, Ottawa is holding consultations in a way that shuts out the very people most affected.
Canada’s farmers help feed our country and contribute billions of dollars to our GDP through exports. They deserve respect, a real voice in shaping the rules, and protection from corporate overreach.
That’s why I’m calling for parliamentary hearings so MPs can properly scrutinize these changes and ensure food security stays in Canadian hands—not in the hands of a few multinationals.
