Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the House of Commons.
It gives me no pleasure, Mr. Chair, to be here today.
I'm a guy from Quebec City. I was a journalist and I'm very familiar with Medicago, because I used to write about the company.
I find everything about this saga very troubling, because it's clear that it's been contaminated by a virus—not a medical virus, but an ownership virus.
On February 27, 2005, Canada and 181 other countries around the world signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which specifically says in point 3 of article 5 of the convention that “Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry”.
Since 2005, it has been clear that when the tobacco industry applies for funding, it cannot, according to the WHO, move forward. The application would not be recognized.
In 2008, Philip Morris International became a 21% shareholder in Medicago.
In March 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, it's understandable that everyone should want to find a solution. On March 23, the government announced that it would help companies conduct scientific research. The press release states that: “The funding will enable Medicago to rapidly advance their clinical trials and then expand production to respond to the pandemic”.
Did you know at the time, Ms. Andrachuk and Ms. Paquette, that the Medicago company had a tobacco corporation as a shareholder and that it would accordingly never be recognized by the WHO?
A yes or a no will do.
