TRYING to live out the common good of fair treatment is a continuing struggle in our society. It is a moral and spiritual struggle that is basic to our notion of who we are as Canadians.
Let’s consider two examples: the proper treatment of animals and the confidentiality or privacy in treatment of people.
The proper treatment of animals is something that livestock producers regularly consider. Healthy animals grow and thrive and are easily marketable. Unhealthy animals are problems.
This came home to me recently when I was appointed to the Animal Research Ethics Board at the University of Saskatchewan. Moral Economy colleague Chris Lind served a number of years ago.Â
Read Also
Worrisome drop in grain prices
Prices had been softening for most of the previous month, but heading into the Labour Day long weekend, the price drops were startling.
The board’s overview includes all university and related organizations and individuals doing research with animals, from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and Prairie Swine Centre to the colleges of medicine and agriculture. The research covers issues of animal, human and environmental health.
The guidelines for board operations are set out by the Canadian Council on Animal Care and affect every university and research institute in Canada.
The basic issues are the same, whether the research is being done on pigs, horses, rats, ducks or fish. Will the researchers care appropriately for the animals, making sure they are healthy and free of pain, or experience very little pain, for a limited time?
If we are going to subject animals to research, we owe it to those animals to make sure they receive appropriate fair treatment.
It is no different in some ways from caring for people. Whether in hospital for treatment or in clinical trials, people need to receive appropriate care. As in animal care, privacy and confidentiality are important to the process, though they apply in different ways.
Indeed, there are strict laws governing privacy and confidentiality of peoples’ information and those are not only in health care.
Which brings us to the actions of federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz in relation to the Canadian Wheat Board. The minister asked for confidential information about the dealings of certain farmers with the CWB in a pilot project.
The minister is entitled to financial and operational information about the CWB but he is not entitled to confidential information, as set out by the Canada’s laws.
Previously, the Harper government tried to end the CWB barley marketing through a cabinet decision. That move was struck down by the federal court.Â
These two events raise concerns that Steven Harper’s government is acting as if laws don’t apply to it. That is something one would expect from a dictatorial government, not a democratic one.
Any approach that endangers the rights of individuals to fair treatment by government is a problem for Canadians.
We need to safeguard fair treatment of animals and people. My fear is that animals may be getting better treatment than people.
Rob Brown is a former agricultural writer and broadcaster now doing studies in ethics. He can be reached at moral.economy@sasktel.net.
