Certified organic confusion

At last week’s Guelph Organic Conference, attended by 50 representatives of the organic food industry, the vote was, for the first time ever, unanimous: Canada needs a mandatory organic food regulatory system.

"We’ve been moving product on the basis of good reputation," says Stephanie Wells, the Organic Trade Association’s Canadian Council liaison, "but more and more importers are requiring national regulation and internationally recognized accreditation." As it stands, the country has no official decree on organic foods, but given that most of Canada’s organic production is exported (primarily to Japan and Europe), it’s imperative that a federal regulatory system be put into place for Canadian producers to remain competitive. There are over 40 organic certification agencies in Canada, but Wells says maybe six are internationally recognized.

For those Canadians willing to pay more to lower their toxic intake, mandatory regulation would also eliminate the confusion around the labelling of organic foods - one set of rules means one certification sticker. Though Wells assures that most of the various certification seals are trustworthy, not all health-conscious shoppers want to research the differing standards between them.

Quebec is actually way ahead of the game, with its own provincial standard - anything marked organic here is certified by the government-sanctioned Conseil d’accréditation du Québec. Though it doesn’t mean much to importers, Quebec is being held up as the example in the development of a federal model, which, according to Wells, probably won’t be fully implemented for another two years. : » Alexandra Spunt

War talks

Just in case you’re finding the mainstream media’s coverage of the latest Gulf crisis to be somewhat incomplete, or, as the less generous among us might suggest, thoroughly inane, take heart that a series of events will be taking place over the next several weeks with the express purpose of shedding some light on the issues.

Organized by Rex Brynen, McGill poli sci professor and author of several books on the Middle East, academics from both McGill and l’Université de Montréal will be holding weekly panels to discuss just what the hey be goin’ down with George W., his warmonger pals and all dem wacky Iraqis who can look forward to being annihilated within the next few months.

"There is a lot of interest on campus regarding the situation in the Gulf," says Brynen, "and there is an extraordinary level of expertise at McGill on the situation as well, so this series of panels is a way of putting these two elements together."

In the event that war against Iraq does proceed, the McGill Gulf Conflict Briefing Project plans on increasing its conferences from one to two or three times per week. Brynen suggests people visit their Web site (www.mcgill.ca/gulfwatch2003) for details.

Also on the war front this week, an anti-war march by various women’s groups - Saturday is International Women’s Day - is scheduled to go down at 4:30 p.m., Saturday, leaving from Place Émilie-Gamelin (Berri Square) and making its way up to Phillips Square. : » Chris Barry

Pizza parking brouhaha

According to one eyewitness, there’s an ugly secret behind Kent Pizzeria’s ability to speed meals to customers from their Hingston and Sherbrooke location. Nearby resident Marc Frenette says that a wheelman for the time-honoured pizza establishment has recently taken to illegally reserving the adjacent street parking by leaving a bright orange plastic cone and an empty garbage can on the street. The garbage can has a big No Parking sign on it just in case anybody misunderstands the semiotic implications of the blockage. As well, the street parking sign has been tampered with. Stickers now block part of the sign showing that anybody can use the space outside of 8 a.m. to noon. Frenette is outraged by the invasive land grab, a clear violation of untold number of bylaws and possibly UN Resolution 242.

"It’s super hard to find parking in the neighbourhood at night and he’s hogging two spaces, between his little cone and his big trash bin," says Frenette. "I got really pissed off because it’s hard to find parking."

Roger Larocque, cousin of late-lamented Habs goaltender Bunny Larocque, has owned the restaurant for a year and would like the street spot enshrined as a launching pad for his drivers. "Sometimes you’re in and out and somebody else grabs the spot. It leaves us stranded for deliveries and hampers our business," says Larocque.

Frenette says he is hoping saturation media coverage of the issue will force Larocque to give up his grip on the occupied territory. : » Kristian Gravenor

Angel >> The Lysistrata Project On Monday, actors, activists and thousands of others concerned about the imminent war in Iraq took part in the reading and performances of Lysistrata, Aristophanes’ 2,500-year-old sex and anti-war comedy. In the play, the women of Athens and Sparta, whose husbands are away killing each other for some reason or another, decide to "refrain from the male altogether," meaning they won’t give it up till their idiot menfolk give up their warring. In almost 60 countries, approximately 1,000 readings of the play (including eight in Montreal) took place. Participants are urging for restraint in Iraq and support for the UN. For more info, see www.lysistrataproject.com.
Insect >> Quebec lagging in daycare space creation The province may be in danger of not meeting the targets it set for new $5-a-day daycare creation last year, despite an estimated 40,000 children stranded on waiting lists. A report by the Department of Family Services shows that only 11,312 spaces were created in 2002, 5,750 short of its target. The PQ still believes it can make up the difference between now and March 31, its initial target date set in 1997, but the figures place further doubt on the government’s objective to create the 200,000 daycare spaces by 2006.