Lumby will take some time before deciding whether use of genetically engineered organisms should be discouraged.
On Monday, council received a staff report on whether the community should become a genetically modified-free zone. Instead, it will await the outcome of a committee being established in the surrounding electoral area to look at the issue further.
“We are going to wait on that decision so the discussion is regional in focus,” said Coun. Janet Green.
The Sustainable Environment Network Society has asked Lumby to become a genetically engineered-free zone, but Green says the village is in a different situation than other local communities.
“In Lumby itself, we don’t have any acreages where people would be using the stuff,” she said referring to the residential nature of the village.
However, because there are concerns about the potential implications from genetically engineered organisms, Green says council and the public should be better informed.
“We need to know when there are genetically modified products in the community,” she said.
“We do have a right to know this as citizens.”
