Brian Evans | Government names Evans special adviser to Canadian Food Inspection Agency president
Brian Evans, for more than a decade the public face of government food safety efforts as chief Canadian veterinary officer and chief food safety officer, is being replaced.
On Sept. 18, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz announced Evans will become a special adviser to Canadian Food Inspection Agency president George Da Pont.
He will continue to be Canada’s delegate to the World Organization for Health in Paris and the representative for countries in the Americas at the OIE.
Martine Dubuc becomes the new chief food safety officer, a position created two years ago for Evans. She joined CFIA in 2008 from the Quebec government and will continue to be the agency’s vice-president of science.
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Ian Alexander is the new chief veterinary officer. He came to the agency from Health Canada in 2010, where he acted as director general of the Veterinary Drugs Directorate.
He will continue to be executive director of the CFIA’s animal health division.
Evans, who started as a rural Ontario vet decades ago, served as the country’s chief veterinary officer for 14 years, including through the chaotic days of the BSE crisis almost a decade ago.
“Brian will be a hard act to follow, although with those two jobs, that was almost more than one person could do,” said Canadian Meat Council executive director Jim Laws.
“His role and presence were huge. He was our hero during BSE when he travelled the world to defend our system and to try to get markets open again.”
Laws said Evans’ replacements “are highly competent people” who will carry on the tradition.
Evans was the face of the inspection and regulatory system for the food industry in Canada
He was also was a regular witness at Parliament Hill committees and the government point man for new food safety legislation now in the Senate and destined to be sent to the House of Commons for final approval next year.
