Dr. Shiv Chopra - Canada's foremost Whistleblower at a Right to Know Coalition of NS events (Halifax Mar. 26th and Bible Hill Mar. 27th)

The Right To Know Coalition of Nova Scotia presents

Dr. Shiv Chopra,

Health Canada Scientist and Food Safety Whistleblower.

Halifax: Thursday, March 26th, 7:30 pm,

King's College, Alumni Hall, 6350 Coburg Rd.

Bible Hill: Friday, March 27th, 4:00 pm,

NS Agricultural College, Alumni Theatre, Cumming Hall

Are private interests impacting food and health safety? How is the Canadian government dealing with adverse or critical findings by Health Canada Scientists? How do we ensure a safe food supply for the public?

"Shiv Chopra is a Canadian hero. He was guided by science to conclusions that were not politically convenient" says Dr. David Suzuki.

Dr. Chopra and his colleague's work prevented approval of harmful drugs such as Bovine Growth Hormone, raised early attention to avoidable sources of Mad Cow Disease, questioned the Anthrax scare and warned about the myth of safe and effective vaccines.

His 2009 Corrupt to the Core, an account of how corruption is endangering the public food supply proposes "Five Pillars of Food Safety": to not employ:

Hormones, Antibiotics, Pesticides, Slaughterhouse/Rendered Animal Wastes,

OR Genetically Modified Organisms

All are welcomed to this free public presentation followed by Q&A.

The Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia is a not-for-profit organization which encourages the use and development of freedom-of-information legislation to foster a better informed and more politically active electorate and to improve the quality of public and private decision making. No other Nova Scotian organization has a similar mission.

The Right to Know Coalition acknowledges the support of Public Service Alliance of Canada, Nova Scotia Government Employees Union, Nova Scotia Agricultural College and Black River Hydro Limited.

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Peggy Cameron (902) 492-4372 / 456-2004 or email <p.cameron@ns.sympatico.ca> see also: http://shivchopra.com/

Listeria monocytogenes - Image by AJC1 via Flickr

Lag in releasing listeriosis notes breaks information law: experts

OTTAWA — The Harper government has delayed for months the release of notes on conference calls held at the height of last summer's deadly listeriosis outbreak - a lag some experts say breaks Ottawa's own information laws.

At issue is an Access to Information request by The Canadian Press to the Privy Council Office for "all transcripts and minutes" of the crucial exchanges last August and September.

Privy Council Office (PCO) - Image by jascha via Flickr

Officials were grappling at the time with a health crisis that sparked intense scrutiny of the national food safety system.

Twenty Canadians died after developing listeriosis, an outbreak that was traced to meat-processing equipment at a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto.

Privy Council officials at first said they had records as requested, but needed four months "to consult other government institutions" about them.

Then Ann Wesch, the access to information director for PCO, wrote a letter dated Feb. 10 stating that in fact "the records retrieved do not fall under the scope of this request. Therefore we have no records relevant to your request."

The explanation for the flip-flop? Records retrieved were handwritten notes - not minutes or transcripts, said the PCO analyst questioned about the response.

This, despite the fact that the word transcribe is in part defined in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary as "make a copy of, esp. in writing . . . write out (shorthand, notes, etc.) . . . ."

Agriculture Canada, in an apparent contradiction of PCO's interpretation, released handwritten notes in answer to an identical request for related transcripts.

Retired Col. Michel Drapeau, a lawyer who co-wrote a book on federal information laws and teaches at the University of Ottawa, was astounded by the Privy Council response.

"It is silly," he said. "I would even say it's infantile to be making this sort of distinction.

"This goes against the spirit of the act and the letter of the act."

Drapeau stressed that the Harper government's own Federal Accountability Act added the onus of a "duty to assist" for institutions that fall under the Access to Information Act.

It requires that federal officials, "without regard to the identity of the person making a request . . . make every reasonable effort to assist the person in connection with the request, respond to the request accurately and completely and, subject to the regulations, provide timely access to the record in the format requested."

What's most disturbing, says Drapeau, is the tone that the Privy Council Office is setting as the public-service standard bearer providing advice and support to the prime minister and cabinet.

"The Privy Council has a duty by virtue of its mission in life to serve as a beacon, to serve as an example, to all public servants - because this is where all authority flows from. This is why the head of the Privy Council Office is also . . . the top public servant.

"And they're setting a bad example. Simple as that."

FULL ARTICLE

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