1.Canada's Corruption
2.Canadians Call For Independent Investigation Into Whistle-Blower Firings
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1.Liberal Corruption, beyond the Sponsorship Scandal
Thursday June, 16 2005 [excerpts]
http://www.thetyee.ca/Views/2005/06/14/BeyondSponsorship/
What is it if not corrupt -- that is, indicative of moral deterioration -- that our federal government would deliberately deny a visa to Africa's Dr. Tewolde Egziabher one of the world's foremost scientists in the field of bio-safety, in order to prevent him attending a UN conference in Montreal?
This crude move against Tewolde (eventually reversed) because he opposes Canada's position, on behalf of corporations -- on commercialization of GMO foods, is a violation of the principles Canada agreed to when Montreal was made the centre for the
Secretariat for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal. It is also evidence of corruption at the highest levels of the Liberal government.
What is it if not corrupt -- as in a perversion of its original state -- that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which in its original form was mandated to protect Canadians from unsafe food products, now has a mandate that trumps this important goal?
The CFIA now must promote the export of Canadian food products, again at the behest of industry. This institutionalized conflict of interest has played out just as you might expect. When Shiv Chopra, Margaret S. Haydon, and Gerard Lambert, scientists in the veterinary drugs directorate, who for years had dedicated themselves to protecting Canadians, tried to do their job they were harassed, threatened and eventually fired for it.
...What is it when Canada sends delegates to a conference examining the safety of so-called terminator seeds with a secret agenda to try to pass a resolution that would allow for the corporate commercialization of his horrible technology? ...Or when Canada's own trade officials, unbeknownst to Canadians, and in concert with giant service corporations, negotiate away our domestic regulatory authority at the WTO?
It is the dictionary definition of corruption: a perversion of the original state of democratic governance, the moral deterioration of our democracy.
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2.Canadians Call For Independent Investigation Into Whistle-Blower Firings
June 08, 2005
http://www.canadiandemocraticmovement.ca/displayarticle660.html
Canadians are calling on the federal government to convene an independent investigation into the firing of Health Canada whistle-blowers Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon and Gerard Lambert.
Petitions signed by thousands of Canadians will also be introduced in the House of Commons this afternoon by members of all three opposition parties -- Nanaimo-Cowichan MP, Jean Crowder (NDP), Hochelaga MP Real Menard (Bloc Quebecois) and Oshawa MP Colin Carrie (CPC).
The petition follows hard on the heels of the three scientists’ presentation to the Standing Committee on Health on May 19 and the Federal Court decision on April 29 that ordered the Public Service Integrity Officer to reconsider complaints from the three scientists. The scientists assert that they were pressured, harassed and finally dismissed for speaking out about the dangers of mad cow disease and about the use of hormones and antibiotics in the food supply, particularly the use of [Monsanto's genetically engineered] bovine growth hormones.
All three scientists were fired on July 14, 2004, shortly after the Martin government took office. No satisfactory explanation has been forthcoming from either Health Canada or the Prime Minister's Office.
"All we want is an open, public investigation into what happened to us," says Chopra. "Then the truth will come out. Our job was to protect the health of Canadians, and that's just what we were doing. We believe that the public has a right to know the full story."
"Parliament must not turn a blind eye to the fate of these courageous scientists," said Mike McBane, national coordinator of the Canadian Health Coalition. "The whistle-blowers are on the front lines, putting health protection ahead of business interests. If the government is unwilling to launch a full investigation, it bodes ill for the future health of Canadians and for our democracy."
"There has been an incredible outpouring of support from Canadians all across the country who are outraged by this scandal," observed Cathy Holtslander, of the Beyond Factory Farming Coalition. "We certainly hope that Parliament will now act to ensure that a full, independent and transparent investigation will be done as soon as possible."
The BFF Coalition is a network of local, provincial and national groups including the Council of Canadians. It promotes livestock production that supports food sovereignty, ecological, human and animal health, as well as sustainability and community viability and informed citizen/consumer choice.