It may seem late, now that Health Canada has announced bovine somatotropin will not be approved for sale in Canada, but senators still want to get in their two cents worth on the controversial dairy growth hormone.
The Senate agriculture committee is planning to complete and publish a report on BST, either before committee members head to Europe on a fact-finding mission, or in February when they return.
Committee chair Len Gustafson said two weeks ago that the senators ended BST hearings late last year with some strong doubts about the value of the product produced by Monsanto Inc.
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“We were going to recommend that it not be approved, or at the very least that a decision be delayed more until questions about its safety were answered,” Gustafson said in an interview from his Saskatchewan farm.
“I know Health Canada has made a decision but we still plan to issue a report.”
In fact, some opponents of BST speculate that with or without a negative report, the Senate hearings last autumn played a key role in the government’s decision to announce its BST decision.
The hearings chaired by Conservative Gustafson and Liberal Eugene Whelan became a forum for domestic and international critics of the dairy hormone product.
Review in question
They also became a stage where the chaotic squabbling within the health protection branch of Health Canada was aired.
Scientists complained their professional doubts about BST were ignored because of a bias toward the company by Health Canada managers. Deputy health minister David Dodge appeared to concede there were problems inside his department and vowed they would be fixed to maintain the credibility of the food and drug approval process. In the end, said Gustafson, too many questions were raised and too few defenders of the drug came forward.
“None of the dairy people before us were calling for it and there were serious questions raised,” said the Saskatchewan farmer.
“I think it was a good decision by Health Canada. I just don’t see how they could have approved it.”
