In an editorial the Toronto's newspaper defends IDRC and Barbara McDougall. Not very convincing and frankly cynical at the end. Readers, including Dr. Cordell Neudorf, Chair, Board of Directors, Canadian Public Health Association differ (read below).
June 21, 2010 The damage to the International Development Research Centre's reputation due to board chair Barbara McDougall's role in tobacco production and marketing as a former Imperial Tobacco director needs to be addressed (Blowing Smoke Over Ms. McDougall – June 19). Leaders know that it is not just following the rules, but being seen as a model of ethical leadership, that counts. Both Canadian and international health experts are questioning IDRC's ability to lead in tobacco control, and it is likely to affect other IDRC programs as well. Any board member, but certainly the chair, needs to put the organization first. It is time that Ms. McDougall resign and the government finds another chair who models the values and ideals of leadership in international development research and programs. Linda J. Keen, Ottawa ............ Your solution (that Ms. McDougall remain chair of IDRC's board of governors and seek an appropriate moment to speak to the harm brought by Big Tobacco to the cause of human development) is inappropriate and insufficient. Ms. McDougall, as a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, should appreciate the issue of Canada's obligations under international treaties that it has ratified. The fact is that Ms. McDougall's situation, sitting simultaneously on both the board of directors of Imperial Tobacco and on IDRC's board for two years, contravened the terms of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) – the world's first international public health treaty. Under the FCTC, no one with a tobacco industry connection is to sit on any government body that has responsibility for public health. IDRC's President, David Malone, has attempted to mitigate some of the damage, announcing that the IDRC would use its own funds to backfill the funds lost from the Gates Foundation, and that it intends to put into place a new nomination vetting process. The IDRC should not have been put in such a position by a member of its own board. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Ms. McDougall has done “Big Tobacco's” bidding – to harm and weaken global tobacco control efforts. From a public health perspective, the solution is Ms. McDougall's resignation from the IDRC board. If this does not happen, then Canada risks being sanctioned by both the global public health community and the World Health Organization for its failure to live up to its international treaty obligations. Dr. Cordell Neudorf, Chair, Board of Directors, Canadian Public Health Association
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