Familiarity and interest in biotech have not grown significantly. There has been a downward trend in the assessment of benefits vs. drawbacks, especially in health and food. Assessments of federal government performance are down slightly in all areas. The desired priority list for government remains largely unchanged from October. Health, environment, the ethical use of biotech and informing Canadians are the main issues, while economic benefits are waning as a priority.
Health remains the most effective benefits case for communications messaging.
Long-term risk is by far the most effective negative argument. Experts and science remain the preferred decision-making drivers. The demand for regulation and caution is growing. The presumption of the safety of food remains insulated from growing concerns overall. At the very least, given the margin of error, there has been no substantial deterioration in this assessment despite the intensified debate about GM foods.