The vice-president of the Consumers’ Association of Canada says her organization is not in a conflict of interest situation despite the fact it uses federal tax dollars to study and provide commentary on government policies concerning food safety and genetic modification.
Documents show the CAC has received tens of thousands of dollars from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to study government food proposals.
The federal government often defends its position on issues such as food safety and voluntary GM labelling by noting the CAC has been consulted and is part of the process of designing rules for voluntary labelling.
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The Consumers’ Association of Canada claims to be an independent, not-for-profit organization whose mandate is to inform consumers on marketplace issues, to advocate for consumers with government and industry, and to work with government and industry to solve marketplace problems.
“I think people who are hearing that consumers support this or that policy have a right to know that the consumers’ association receives money from the government regulator proposing the policies,” said Bradford Duplisea, a representative with the Canadian Health Coalition, an anti-GM organization that obtained the documents through access to information provisions.
“Then, they can make up their own mind about whether the position is truly independent.”
Jenny Hillard of Winnipeg, vice-president of the Consumers’ Association of Canada and CAC representative on a General Standards Council study of GMO labelling issues, scoffed when asked about the potential conflict of interest.
Hillard said the CAC admits receiving money from government departments to study policy proposals or draft consumer responses.
“It doesn’t influence what we come up with. The money is to do the work, not to form a position. They are not always necessarily happy with the position we come up with.”
