OTTAWA – The government is uncertain on how to label genetically engineered fish –if it ever gets approved –as one company is pushing its modified salmon to make its way to Canadian plates.
Earlier in March, the U.S. company AquaBounty applied for approval from Health Canada to sell its altered fish in the market.
A photo from the document released through the Access to Information Act.
Genetically modified food comes from the manipulation of genes in plants or animals. In this case, the AquAdvantage fish uses a hormone gene from a Chinook salmon that enables it to grow twice as fast as the average salmon. The company considers it to be an environmental alternative to farmed salmon.
A document released through the Access to Information Act reveals meeting minutes from a working group concerning genetically engineered animals in October 2010. There was a section on modified salmon and how it would be labelled.
The document mentions naming non-genetically engineered salmon as “GE free” as an example of “negative labeling” for the product. The members of the meeting recognized that genetically modified food “continues to be a contentious issue.”
This was proven earlier this year when environmental groups took legal action against the government for approving genetically engineered salmon eggs to be produced in a facility in P.E.I. and potentially the salmon themselves in the near future.
A non-genetically engineered salmon being sold in Ottawa. Photo by Shannon Lough.
Joanne Cook of Ecology Action Centre, from one of these groups, says the government “has been trying to avoid comment as much as possible on this issue.”
“Basically, the crux of our case is that we don’t think the government has followed its own laws under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in approving this critter,” Cook said.
Environmental groups are concerned with the lack of public consultation and how safety assessments on the fish are being done behind closed doors.
The document from 2010 exposes what little is available on the topic. It details a working group with representatives from Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans discussing prospects for the altered salmon in Canada.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is reported to being close to its decision on if the fish will be deemed safe for people to eat.
In the document, the working group noted that in the U.S. “labeling of food in general is based on the principle of there being no material difference.”
Since this meeting, the U.S. agency found in a safety assessment there are in fact no material differences between an Atlantic salmon and an AquAdvantage salmon.
Health Canada spokesman Gary Scott Holub says the department can’t speculate on when or if the fish will be approved, but at the moment no genetically modified animal has received approval for human consumption.
But if it did pass, Health Canada says it’s responsible for setting the food labeling policy.
“This applies to all foods, including foods that have been derived
Candied non-genetically engineered salmon. Photo by Shannon Lough
through genetic engineering,” Holub said.
Fisheries researcher Nick Lapointe says he worries about the potential consequences despite scientific findings the fish are materially the same.
Lapointe says he won’t support what he calls the Frankenstein of genetically modified foods due to its potential environmental impact and the unknown of what those genes may develop into.
“Essentially when we inject genes from one organism to another, we’re putting in an unknown collection of genes and we don’t know what additional genes are going to be expressed,” Lapointe said.
If there is no labeling on the product, average Canadians may not know the potential risks when purchasing the fast-growing salmon.
Lapointe said he thinks Canadians will go to the big grocery stores in places like Walmart and “they’ll buy whatever is cheapest, they don’t see beyond that.”
ATIP and FOI requests that are still pending. This includes some correspondence. I called to follow up on all the requests as well.
(*) What is the information?
A working group with several government departments met in October 2010, in Guelph, to discuss the genetically engineered salmon, or the AquAdvantage fish. They discuss negative labelling and how genetically modified organisms is a contentious topic. I took this information from pages 16-17 of the document. On page 10 there is a picture showing the effects of the growth hormone in the fish.
(*) From which department and level of government did you obtain these pages?
This was obtained from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
(*) Why was this information helpful?
Yes, because it brought up another issue that hasn’t been discussed on the salmon. Most people are concerned about the ecological impacts, but this brings out the issue that it was considered that it might get sold in Canadian markets back in 2010. This month, the company AquaBounty applied for approval from Health Canada to sell its fish to Canadian markets, so its interesting to approach this issue from the angle of how people will be informed about the product if they can buy it at grocery stores. The information also showed all the departments who are working on this topic. I was able to reach out and try to get contacts from each department.
Shannon Lough March 6, 2014 A video on how naan is made at an Indian restaurant in Brampton.
BRAMPTON – Food inspectors have switched into enforcement mode after an education policy wasn’t working in one the most ethnically diverse regions in Canada.
Second to Toronto, Peel is the destination of choice for new immigrants. Of the 1.3 million people that live there, half are immigrants. Authentic meals from all over the world are found in this area but when it comes to standards everyone has to play by the same rules.
Diversity is a core value when providing services and programs to the
A tandoor oven that “requires a serious cleaning effort,” Danny Martin said. Photo by Shannon Lough
community. Manager of Peel public health, Danny Martin said there are many cultural practices within the population and regional employees have to find a balance between educating and enforcing the provincial regulations.
Multiculturalism in Peel makes the job different than in Thunder Bay but “everyone is treated equally,” said Martin, “it’s the same regulations, it doesn’t matter, we don’t prejudge.”
Martin has been working in the industry for 28 years and said he’s seen a lot.
“In 2013, our charges as far as enforcement went up 100% in the region of Peel from 2012,” Martin said. “We were in enforcement mode because education just wasn’t working.”
The inspection is on a point system requiring operators to stay under 15 points. They must comply with Ontario food regulations, which Martin says “are a minimum to begin with.”
A food facility will be closed if there is a health hazard. A sewage back up, or a cockroach infestation would close a restaurant. Martin said people usually close up on their own and the inspectors monitor the situation. If they pass re-inspection, they can re-open.
For businesses who don’t meet the minimum requirements, they are given a conditional pass and have 72 hours to improve the situation before re-inspection. If they pass, they can remove the yellow sign and remain open.
With over 90 languages spoken in Peel, cuisines from all over the world are found here, but most infractions are found in South Asian take-out and restaurants.
Manager of Airport Sweets & Tandoori Restaurant, Sukhpreet Singh. Photo by Shannon Lough.
Last month, Airport Sweets and Tandoori Restaurant was given a conditional pass for sanitation issues. It is a “big hit in Brampton” said manager, Sukhpreet Singh. It’s a take-out restaurant that cooks most of the food in an Indian tandoor oven.
“It’s like a fire pit, as opposed to being fried,” Singh said. “The food inspectors are very open to this kind of stuff.”
The restaurant is a buffet style with colourful desserts on the left, and trays of butter chicken and paneer tikka masala on the right. Singh said Indian restaurants have trouble with cleanliness because of the stains and smell from the spices that go in the curry.
Another facility that has had trouble meeting standards is the “East meets West” supermarket called Oceans. The business was given 28 conditional passes over the past 14 months mainly for its take-out section.
Oceans assistant store manager in Brampton, Roy Tango, said the inspectors are very friendly and the standards are fair.
“They know more than us, they tell us what needs to be fixed and we arrange to have things fixed that have a problem,” Tango said.
This is the education role that food inspectors play. When working with people like Tango who is willing to “try to be perfect” then the education role pays off.
Operators new to Ontario’s food safety standards or who purchase a facility in a run-down building face more challenges to meet regulations, but Martin said Peel food inspectors do their best to educate them first.
They are given a chance to meet the basic criteria but when behaviours don’t change “you’ve got to do something about it and play poker a little differently,” Martin said.
“They chose to be in the business, it comes with rules, follow them.”
Heat map of areas in the Peel Region with the most infractions against food safety. The hottest areas tend to be in old buildings with run down equipment. This leads in failure to pass maintenance and equipment regulations, said Danny Martin, Manager of Peel public health. Data provided by: Kevin Farrugia, GIS Technician, Regional Municipality of Peel
Ukraine’s violent revolution has some reflecting on 1989 and Solidarity in Poland, an example of a national movement that brought peaceful change and the end of communism twenty-five years ago.
A photo taken during the Solidarity movement in Poland.
Solidarność (Solidarity) began during shipyard strikes in Gdańsk, led by Lech Wałęsa. In 1980, the first independent trade union formed in the Soviet bloc, and the sentiment of solidarity spread throughout the country.
The Soviets reacted by imposing martial law but the peaceful revolution prevailed. In Feb. 1989 round table talks began between the communist party and the leaders of Solidarity.
On June 4, elections were held and Solidarity led the new government. This day was marked by Poles around the world as “unbelievable” says Jan Grabowski, a history professor at the University of Ottawa.
Gas mask worn by a protester during the Solidarity movement.
Grabowski was in Canada during the elections. He left Poland in 1988 when the regime loosened travel restrictions. He said he regretted leaving had he known freedom was so close.
“I simply thought that communism was this rock that would never budge,” Grabowski said. “I thought there was no future for any young person in Poland.”
During the eighties, Grabowski became a member of the Independent Student Union, an affiliate of Solidarity.
He printed leaflets and brochures he would scatter from the top of apartment buildings to inviting the people below to demonstrations, Grabowski said.
Once his landlord threw him out of his apartment and he carried a printing machine through the streets of Warsaw.
“I was wandering the streets of my fair city waiting to get arrested for this kind of behaviour,” he said.
He found refuge in his cousin’s apartment and continued his activity there. But after four years, his participation ended because he said he got tired of looking over his shoulder.
After the elections the communist oppression ended.
Solidarity was a national movement across Poland in the 1980s.
The political counselor at the Polish Embassy in Ottawa, Andrzej Farafa, was only nine-years-old at the time of the elections but he still remembers the severe food shortages.
“The economy was underdeveloped before change,” Farafa said who attributes economist Leszek Balcerowicz for successfully replacing the communism model with free-market reforms.
A contemporary Poland looks much different these days with shopping malls and well-stocked grocery stores. Farafa said it will be hard for his kids to understand the way things once were in Poland.
Lech Wałęsa, as the first President of the Republic of Poland, introduced capitalism and focused on foreign relations with the West.
Poland became a member of NATO in 1999. Since then, Polish troops have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2004, Poland joined the European Union but continues to use its own złoty currency. Working with neighbouring countries is a form of Solidarity, said Farafa.
“It’s a reasoning that we use with the European states, you need to be a team player to achieve more,” Farafa said.
While high debts caused the European financial crisis in 2009, Poland was the only EU member nation to continue economic growth.
The Solidarity memorial at the Gdansk shipyard. Photo by Shannon Lough.
The introduction of capitalism and globalization brought success to the country along with some challenges.
Poland has an unemployment rate of 14 percent and reports say after joining the EU, economic migration increased and people left to find job opportunities elsewhere.
The sense of national unity has faded and for Krzysztof Kasprzyk, an original supporter of the revolution, some “people forgot about many lessons from Solidarity,” he wrote.
The origins of the revolution may be lost among the generation who were too young to remember tanks in the streets and military rule during martial law.
Farafa said people still refer to movement. It’s a reminder that if “we really want something we can unite and we can make a change,” he said.
Whatever happened to story
Documentation
Shannon Lough
Feb. 26, 2014
I had several interviews. The first was with Jeff Sallot, who worked for the Globe & Mail’s Moscow bureau during the collapse of the Soviet Union. He provided me with solid background information on the elections and the Solidarity movement.
The second interview was Jan Grabowski, a history professor at the University of Ottawa. The third interview was with Andrzej Farafa from the Polish Embassy. I also reached out to the Polish consulate in Toronto who connected me through e-mail with other sources including Krzysztof Kasprzyk, who wrote the unofficial anthem for the Solidarity movement.
The idea came from a document I obtained while studying in Poland. I got it while I was in Gdansk, where I learned about the Solidarity movement. It’s a transcript of an international conference held in Warsaw on discussing the 25th anniversary of the Independent Trade Union, Solidarnosc. I decided to do my story on the success of the Solidarity movement by overthrowing the oppressive communist regime in 1989.
I took the photo of the memorial in Gdansk in 2007, and the Solidarity photos I photographed copies of from a professor at Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
For my two documents:
Transcript of an interview with Jan Grabowski (attached)
I found him through searching online for people in the area that were specialists in Polish politics. I noticed that on the professor’s website his profile stated he had been in Warsaw in the 1980s and I contacted him for an interview on the subject.
The interview was extremely helpful because his memories were full of colour and he brought life to the story. He is also aware of Poland’s current situation because he travels four to five times a year for his work.
Transcript of the International Coference in Warsaw-Gdansk, August 29-31, 2005
I found the document while I was sorting through my books back at my parents house. I obtained the book while I was studying in Poland. I went on a trip to Gdansk to learn about the political history of the area and visited the memorial at the shipyard. I was given the text there.
It was helpful because it’s a reflection on the Solidarity movement by important figures within Poland. The most useful section was on the legacy of the movement and how it changed Poland after overthrowing communism.
Jan Grabowski
Professor/Professeur titulaire
Department of History/Département d’histoire
University of Ottawa/Université d’Ottawa
Desmarais Hall, room 9117, 55 Laurier East
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5
(613) 562-5800 # 1292
Article: Solidarity movement
Telephone interview
Possible questions:
What was the atmosphere of Poland like during the 80s?
Did you take part of the Solidarity movement?
How did you feel about the outcome of events?
What did this peaceful protest do for the Polish people and how has the affected the way Poland is today?
Jan Grabowski:
There were two periods one was the time of 1980-81, that was after the strikes when Solidarity was finally formed and created then there was martial law with several years of oppression and then you had the re-emergence of the solidarity movement in 1989.
Can you tell me about the atmosphere in Poland during this time?
Imagine one day for instance that you go out from your house in the middle of the winter, it was 13th of December 1981, you see tanks and armoured personal carriers sitting out in front of your house and your telephone does work any more. You cannot leave the country, you cannot leave even your city. Everything is under iron law of the military. People get shot for their trouble too and you know it was a bleak bleak period of time.
The hopes were so high before and then from one day to another it went into complete despair.
Were you a part of the Solidarity movement?
Oh yeah, at that time in 1980-81 I was a student. I was a member of the equivalent of Solidarity in the student movement, it was called Independent Student Union, which was a solidarity affiliate among the students. And then I became a member of the Solidarity in the underground. I was involved in the underground printing presses printing information for the Solidarity movement between December 1981- 1985. My participation stopped, you people sometimes get tired after four years looking over your shoulder whether someone is going to arrest you. You simply need a pause and I took a pause after four years.
How did you manage to leave Poland?
After several years of martial law the regime mellowed a bit. By 85-86, Poles could travel a bit abroad so you could leave the country, it wasn’t easily, its as doable.
In 1988 I was invited to continue my PhD in Canada, so I left. (To Montreal)
Have you ever returned?
Well you know, I’m a working historian and I’m doing the history of Poland so I imagine at this point I’m going four/five times I am in Poland. So you could say, yes, very often.
Can you reflect on how you felt with the votes went through in 1989?
I was extraordinarily surprised. I was leaving Poland in 1988 and I was already a trained historian by craft and I could never ever ever thought it possible. When I left in 1988 I thought there was no future for any young person in Poland. It felt like you were looking at the world through a thick wall of glass. It was sort of an un-reality we called; the rules were oblique, strange, inhuman even. Then after one year the system seemed to collapse like a house of cards.
I simply thought that communism was this rock that would never budge, at least not in my lifetime. Had I known I would never have immigrated to Canada in 88. I would have certainly stayed on until after a year or so, I had already made my commitment.
I was very very surprised and of course over joyed too.
How old were you when you left?
I left when I was 26yrs at that point.
Do you think that it was the Solidarity movement that brought the fall of communism in Poland?
The Solidarity movement was of course instrumental in bringing it down but of course everyone will tell you that simply the system started to rot in the Soviet Union. It was already very shaky. And simply Polish society and solidarity took advantage of the fact that the centre of Soviet power had started to collapse. It was good fortune for everybody. Solidarity took advantage of the fact that Moscow became weakened and the Soviet system became so ill at heart that it couldn’t control its periphery anymore.
How do you think this movement has affected Poland today?
It’s amazing, you have to go there one day, it’s open society. I am certain you would find Poles your age exactly the same as your Canadian counterparts. They are now raised in the same Western culture and Polish society has it’s problems, especially young people. It’s a normal Western society with all of it’s problems and vices but parts of it are fairly optimistic family of developed nations. It’s amazing what was done in 25yrs. It’s not as wealthy as Canadian society of course but given the point that I remember in 1988 where the only merchandise you could buy was vinegar I would say it’s a major improvement.
How did you feel about Lech Walensa becoming the leader right after?
He’s a person of historical dimension, he’s a bit larger than life and he commits huge errors and he makes wonderful decisions too so he is such a complex individual that I would be lost to describe him but I think he was much better in opposition than once he became President. Once he became President parts of his character came to the fore but once he was leader in Solidarity even the whole union, he made tremendous decisions and he was brave and we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
Can reflect on a moment during when you were in the underground movement?
Once I was in the little printing press, it was heavy but I could lift if off the ground. We produced underground bulletins. We as myself or one or two of my colleagues. We had to change locations because people were afraid of stuff, of helping anyone to do with the underground. I remembered one sunny winter morning it was in 1983, in the midst of a very severe winter, my landlord threw me out with this printing machine and in my backpack I had a few thousand sheets of paper and stuff you need to print and I had no where to go with the bloody thing. Because nobody wanted to lend me their space anymore. That was an utter disappointment. People after two years of hiding in the underground movement were tired. I was wandering the streets of my fair city waiting to get arrested for this kind of behaviour. Finally I found a place with my very old cousin. She was then in her 80s and she remember still the partition and occupation of Poland in WWI. And she opened her very modest apartment and she invited me in. And that’s where I was producing the brochures and the information leaflets for Solidarity for some time.
What kind of things did you print?
Normally it was simply 100,000 leaflets inviting people to demonstrations. Or appeals ordered to liberate political prisoners. I would print these leaflets, cut them, and throw them out from different buildings so they would be spread out to the crowds downstairs. Sometimes our little shop would produce internal bulletins for Solidarity. Whatever was required basically by the Warsaw Solidarity organization.
Did you ever go to Gdansk?
Of course many times but without Solidarity.
What can you say of the spirit of the Polish people during this movement?
Once again, I was at that point in Canada so I was a secondary witness. I can only tell you what my friends and family said that everyone felt absolutely and unbelievably happy especially during the June 1989 elections where suddenly people found out that they could actually a vote.That they could vote for their people. It was so novel and so absolutely unbelievable. For me the equivalent was in Aug. 31. 1980 when Solidarity became legal, it was absolute discovery that my goodness things can change.
The choice for Canadians over where to grab a fresh cup of coffee is tough competition for cafes like Second Cup, who are in a downward struggle in the java wars.
The Second Cup logo.
For Second Cup, business is consistently flat but the coffee shop is dealing with a new challenge, saving their brand. Over the past two years, the trademark brown and yellow logo of a steaming cup of coffee has cost the company millions.
A trademark’s value is based on how well it’s recognized. It isn’t a concrete form of cash for a company but building brand awareness is vital to obtaining high value for a company.
In 2012, the company marked nearly a 15 per cent decline in the value of their brand, and in 2013 it declined another 18 per cent.
A trademark that loses worth inevitably damages the company’s image to investors.
Management at Second Cup assures that its trademark is “well established” and will “provide benefits indefinitely into the future.” In 2012 that same trademark cost the company $12.8-million in impairment, and another $13.2-million in 2013.
Financial advisor for HUB Financials, Scott Cottrell said that stating their brand has less value than in previous years has reflected in their financials.
“They were consistently over seven-to-eight dollars in their stock and when they indicated there was an impairment on their assets the stock dropped to four dollars,” Cottrell said.
In 2012, when the company announced a decline in value of their trademark, their stocks took a major hit.
Cottrell said their recent annual report shows the company is being more conservative and lowering their expectations for growth.
Recently, Second Cup had a slight growth in stocks since announcing at the end of last year a change in the Board of Directors. Michael Bregman, who was once the CEO and brought the company public in 1993, is now the Director.
“They’re bringing back their old ways. That tells me that they were doing something well when he was CEO and they’re trying to bring back past success,” Cottrell said.
Chief financial officer at Second Cup, Steve Boyack started working for the company this past summer when stocks were at the lowest for the year. Boyack says that Bregman’s return is part of the reason stocks are looking slightly upward.
There is a chance that stocks may improve in 2014 after millions was spent investing in research and innovation to improve the coffee brand and drive company growth.
Second Cup is still fighting to win over the hearts of Canadians by renovating their cafes and establishing the Perks loyalty program. They also launched a plan to sell their beans at grocery stores and partnered with TASSIMO. Boyack says the goal is to build “better brand awareness.”
This is not an original marketing development. These attempts are only following the trend of other competitors and Cottrell says “it’s not a leading strategy” to revamp their trademark.
With brand names like Starbucks, Tim Hortons and McCafe embedding themselves at every corner of the street, Canada’s biggest specialty coffee shop is being overshadowed by the giants of the industry.
“In Canada we have a lot of strong competition. First and foremost Starbucks. They have probably 1,200 locations over our 360,” Boyack said.
McDonald’s became another strong competitor after putting $1-billion into renovations and launching McCafe.
Since 2011, they’ve given over 60 million cups of coffee and captured a lot of shares, it “paints a picture of who we compete with,” Boyack said.
The independent market is also vying for loyalty from coffee drinkers as well. Boyack said there are many good independent coffee shops across Canada. In Ottawa, Bridgehead has 15 locations including several key spots in the downtown area.
Second Cup may claim to have the best coffee in town, but its going to have to save its brand or be forgotten.
