Three controversial Health Canada scientists renowned for publicly alleging improper corporate pressure on departmental regulators to approve veterinary drugs have been fired by the department.
The National Farmers Union is calling for a public inquiry.
Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon and Gerard Lambert received letters of dismissal in mid-July. Although the content of the letters has not been made public, the department says it is not related to their “whistle blowing.”
Steve Hindle, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which represents the three, has a different view. He said the union will fight to get their jobs back.
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“The grievance has been filed and the next step will be to go to the deputy minister to argue our case,” Hindle said. “I think it is highly likely this relates to their criticisms of Health Canada.”
He said if the deputy minister does not reverse the dismissal order, the union will go to the Public Service Staff Relations Board for a hearing.
Several years ago the three scientists went public before the Senate agriculture committee with allegations that Monsanto was pressuring managers in the department’s bureau of veterinary drugs to approve the dairy growth hormone bovine somatotropin.
Their testimony was a key factor in leading the Senate committee to oppose approval of BST. The department eventually agreed and did not approve it.
The three also questioned departmental decisions to approve several veterinarian antibiotic drugs, and after BSE was discovered, they said the disease was inevitable in Canada because of regulatory deficiencies.
For their criticisms, some of the scientists were suspended without pay but won a court ruling that reinstated them.
Last week, Sierra Club of Canada executive director Elizabeth May said the government was firing “dedicated public servants whose offence was to put human health above corporate interests.”
Eugene Whelan, former agriculture minister and vice-chair of the Senate committee during the BST hearings, called the firings a disgrace.
During the hearings, he told the scientists that if there were any repercussions within the department, they should return to the Senate committee.
“I think the Senate committee should deal with this on an urgent basis,” he said. “These are smart people. They are not trying to destroy anything but to make it stronger. I blame the minister for not keeping control of the department.”
