Mr. Speaker, a scientist at the Pacific Science Congress in Vancouver in 1974 had the following words to say. “A scientist has as much luck in communicating with the federal bureaucracy as you would have reciting Gaelic poetry to a deaf seagull”.
Recent events have served to prove these words. The government seems to be favouring the narrow, short term, cash interests of a few huge multinational corporations over the health of Canadians.
Canada's scientists have been gagged, muted, silenced and ignored by this Liberal government. They have been pressured to approve drugs and overridden by bureaucrats.
This is a very serious matter, and I believe the health of Canadians to be threatened. The disease is misplaced government priorities. The symptoms include muzzling scientists and heavy-handed government intimidation tactics. The prognosis is a festering, politically motivated plague on health prevention and the prescription is for this Liberal government to clean up its act where the health of Canadians is concerned.
In 1996 senior health protection regulator Dr. Michelle Brill-Edwards resigned, charging that the interests of pharmaceutical companies were being put ahead of those of the public.
Health protection scientists have revealed outside pressure to approve drugs aimed at increasing milk production in cows. The biggest multinational pressuring the Liberal government to approve their drugs for this use is Monsanto who, according to Elections Canada, during the last federal election donated to one candidate, the Liberal member for Mississauga Centre, and to one federal party in 1997, the federal Liberal Party.
The file on rBST, a drug to increase milk production, was placed off limits. A notice was sent out by the then director, Dr. Lachance, stating:
Please be advised that starting immediately, January 11, 1999, the following files cannot be obtained by anyone prior to my approval: rBST,...
The memo went on to list other files. Then gag orders were placed on the scientists not to discuss this issue publicly. One scientist, who testified early in May before the Senate committee on agriculture, said:
There was pressure to pass drugs, not only rBST, but also antibiotics and other hormones. There were serious problems with hormones that could cause cancer.
Another scientist, who testified before the Senate committee about the situation facing health department scientists, said:
—looking after the health of Canadians who are eating food produced from animals that are receiving dangerous drugs, antibiotics and hormones.
Yet another scientists, Dr. Margaret Haydon of Health Canada, testified that after her research she could not recommend support for a drug that affected the thymus gland of young calves which could in turn affect the immune system. Another evaluator agreed and the two acting chiefs of the section concurred.
All of this was overridden by higher powers closer to this Liberal government and hence closer to the corporate interests of Monsanto.
Even the food and drug administration in the U.S. admits that cows injected with these drugs could suffer from increased udder infections known as mastitis, severe reproductive problems, digestive disorders, persistent sores and lacerations.
Canadians do not want to consume pus in their milk. The government has done a real disservice to the health of Canadians, not to mention scientific integrity.
What will the Liberal government do to convince Canadians that it places their health over the greed of multinational corporate giants?
Finally, to what will the government commit in terms of putting in place processes which will protect the integrity of Canada's scientists and ensure that their research into our safety is given the priority it is due?