Health Canada sends 229 blank pages in response to Freedom of Information request

The case of glyphosate in legumes had created a controversy in the summer of 2021. Radio-Canada had revealed that the federal government wanted to increase the quantities of herbicide residues allowed on several foodstuffs such as lentils, beans or peas . Canada would thus have become less demanding than the United States and China.

Faced with the outcry caused by this affair, Ottawa had backed down and put its project on hold. The Trudeau government had also committed to changing the law for more transparency and independence in the process. This reform is still pending.

In the meantime, it had been revealed that it was Bayer, a multinational which manufactures and markets glyphosate, which had asked the federal government to make this change.

A year of waiting to get vacuum

Vigilance OGM coordinator Thibault Rehn, who received the 229 blank pages, sees it as proof that “the Canadian government is not transparent in this”.

” I found that ridiculous. We submit an access request for additional information and we receive 229 blank pages. »

“It’s a pity that officials are wasting their time sending this to us,” he adds. “They could have emailed us to tell us the information was not accessible. »

Industry studies behind the white pages

On each of the white pages, Health Canada has copied the two sections of the Access to Information Act that justify hiding all of the content.

The first article specifies that the documents contain personal information and the second article indicates that they constitute “financial, commercial, scientific or technical information provided to a government institution by a third party, which is of a confidential nature and which is treated as such constantly by this third party”.

For Thibault Rehn, “it’s really problematic” that the federal government relied solely on studies of the industry which, according to him, finds itself judge and party in the process.

” We really want Canada to be more concerned about the health of citizens and less about the trade secrets of industry. »

Health Canada invites the plaintiff to file a complaint

We asked Health Canada what justifies hiding all this information and what is the point of sending 229 blank pages rather than simply indicating the refusal to hand over the document.

“I can confirm that we have exempted all information under Sections 19 and 20(1) of the Act. “, replied by email the deputy director, access to information and protection of personal information of Health Canada, Janet Sewell McPherson. She adds that the plaintiff can complain if he wishes.

” Anyone who makes a formal request under the Access to Information Act has the right to complain to the Information Commissioner about any aspect of the handling of their access to information request. »

Health Canada adds that “following any complaint, the Office of the Information Commissioner undertakes an independent investigation to determine what was taken into account by the government institution when making a decision when processing a request. and, depending on the nature of the complaint, “it may be to assess what factors were considered if/when exemptions are invoked”.

Health Canada makes no secret of it

In 2021, Radio-Canada also revealed that Health Canada wanted to allow more traces of pesticides in berries. We then discovered that the request for reform came from the pesticide giant Syngenta and Agriculture Canada.

In an interview, a Health Canada executive explained to us that pesticide companies “give us scientific data, we evaluate it, then we propose maximum residue limits following this evaluation”.

Ottawa claimed that its reform posed no risk to Canadians, because even by tripling the permitted limits, the dose remained harmless.

The controversy had, however, prompted the federal government to promise to involve independent scientists in its evaluation process. Currently, the vast majority of studies on which the government relies to make its decisions are produced by the pesticide manufacturers themselves.

Ottawa had also announced that it wanted to invest $50 million in Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency to, among other things, improve “the availability of independent data” from universities,NGO and governments.

Last month, Radio-Canada revealed that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which depends on Health Canada, had presented a reform on new GMOs using the files of an agrochemical lobby. Part of the reform aimed at establishing a voluntary transparency for the industry rather than mandatory had been dropped following the controversy it created.