Larry Taylor is proud of his Manitoba roots.
He graduated from the University of Manitoba’s agriculture faculty in 1977.
A photograph of his great-great-grandfather John Taylor, agriculture minister in 1879, hangs in the office of today’s minister Harry Enns.
So he’s pleased Monsanto, the company he works for, has brokered a deal to conduct research in a historical crop research building on the university campus.
But a former federal agriculture minister is less than impressed the multinational will hang its hat in the building.
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“I think it’s a terrible thing that we depend on people like Monsanto” for agricultural research, said now-senator Eugene Whelan. “How can scientists be independent, no matter what company they’re working for?”
Whelan’s comments were echoed by Fred Tait, a Manitoba farmer involved with the National Farmers’ Union.
“To me, universities and university research should be focused on the public good,” said Tait.
He worries other scientists on campus will feel pressure to curb criticism of the company and its products.
Rosann Wowchuk, NDP agriculture critic, said she is happy the provincial government is spending some money on research.
“We’ve been losing out to other provinces at a phenomenal rate.”
But farmers need independent research that doesn’t tie them to a particular corporation, said Wowchuk.
Don Dewar, of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said if Monsanto is going to do research somewhere in Canada, it might as well be in Manitoba.
“It’s always encouraging to see more investment in research,” said Dewar. “We just wonder sometimes about Monsanto’s motives.”
Dewar would prefer to see more funding for public research not owned by any company: “Their (Monsanto’s) first priority is to increase their bottom line.”
Taylor, director of new technology for Monsanto, said the company doesn’t plan to monopolize research at either Agriculture Canada’s cereal research station or the University of Manitoba’s crop science department.
The centres will be independent, and will continue to work with other companies and competitors, he said.
Jim Bole of Agriculture Canada said his centre works with about 40 different private sector partners, including producer groups. Monsanto is the largest multinational funding work at the centre, although General Mills and Quaker Oats are two other major players.
Jim Elliot, dean of the agriculture faculty, noted canola researchers at the University of Manitoba already collaborate with CanAmera Foods and Rhone-Poulenc.
