ROCK'S EX-AIDE
Now A Lobbyist For MONSANTO!
Monday, March 12, 2001
The Globe and Mail's Mark MacKinnon reported today that a former top aide to Canadian Health Minister Allan Rock has been hired as biotech/pesticide giant Monsanto's "chief lobbyist in Ottawa." He notes that this "comes less than two years after being publicly linked to a
controversial decision to approve Monsanto's genetically modified
potatoes for sale in Canada."
| "John Dossetor, resigned his position as senior policy adviser to Mr. Rock in January. Mere weeks later, he was hired by Monsanto..." |
The Health Minister's former aide, John Dossetor, resigned his position as senior policy adviser to Mr. Rock in January. Mere weeks later, he was hired by Monsanto to
"be responsible for the development and implementation of Monsanto's
government affairs strategies in Canada,". This was announced in an
advertisement Monsanto took out in a number of newspapers.
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| "How can it not be considered a conflict of interest to be working
for the regulator one week, and the industry you're supposed to be
regulating the next" |
Is it coincidence? Maybe, but GE health watchdog, Michael McBane (Canadian Health Coalition) asks "How can it not be considered a conflict of interest to be working
for the regulator one week, and the industry you're supposed to be
regulating the next?"
The underlying question is, the Globe reporter notes, what role did Dossetor
play in 1999, when Monsanto struck the private deal with federal
health regulators to ensure swift approval for the sale of two types
of its New Leaf potatoes.
The New Leaf potatoes were developed with a resistance to
potato viruses and the Colorado potato beetle. Though they received fast track approval, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency objected, in part, over concerns of "extremely poor" field tests. Mr. MacKinnon writes "The tests showed that, among other problems, parts of the fields had been
sprayed with a powerful pesticide, which the potatoes are not
supposed to require" and "The CFIA said a rapid approval would "compromise the integrity" of Canada's regulatory system."
The Globe received a voicemail message from Dossetor who "rejected any suggestion that he
might be in a conflict-of-interest position. He said the allegations
were based on "unfounded links." "
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