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Technology and Governance Publications
Author(s): Ellis Westwood and Marc Saner March 2005 This report summarizes a workshop on food irradiation, which IOG designed and facilitated at the request of the Health Products and Food Branch of Health Canada in early 2005. Food irradiation is a process that involves using radiation treatment to improve food safety through the elimination of food-borne bacteria, and is currently used in the production of potatoes, onions and flour. In 2002, the federal government proposed amending regulations governing the use of food irradiation in Canada to extend the permitted use of irradiation to ground beef, poultry, shrimp and prawns, and mangoes. This workshop provided a forum for open discussion on this controversial issue, focusing on voluntary approaches to irradiated foods served in food service and restaurant establishments. The event involved representatives from advocacy groups, industrial associations, and all levels of government. View Document June 2004 This report comprises a summary of IOG’s special Executive Workshop on Biotechnology, which was held under the patronage of Dr. Arthur Carty, National Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, and in collaboration with the Canadian Biotechnology Secretariat on May 25-26, 2004. The fourth event of IOG’s Biotechnology and Governance Program, the workshop was attended by approximately 50 people, including senior representatives from federal departments and agencies, industry, civil society organizations, provinces and academia. The workshop gave participants the opportunity to identify gaps and barriers to a responsible realization of biotechnology’s potential, to prioritize issues, to brainstorm on solutions and to develop an action plan. The report also contains Dr. Carty’s Opening and Closing Addresses. View Document Author(s): Evlyn Fortier and Marc Saner March 2004 This IOG report expands on a preference analysis conducted in an earlier paper, Is the Queensland Code For Biotechnology a Good Model for Canada? A Preliminary Analysis. Drawing on additional interviews with representatives of NGOs and public interest groups regarding a possible code for biotechnology, it concludes that support for a possible code among this group is, for the most part, conditional and may require a code with a different scope. View Document Lessons from the CropLife Canada Plant Biotechnology Code of Practice and a Comparison to Alternatives Author(s): Evlyn Fortier and Marc SanerMarch 2004 This paper offers a short comparison of the CropLife Plant Biotechnology Code of Practice to the Queensland model and to the BIOTECanada Statement of Ethical Principles. It examines comparative strengths and weaknesses of the CropLife Code, and gives special consideration to CropLife Code's compliance policy. Investigating this aspect of CropLife’s code facilitates a clearer understanding of the pros and cons of the approaches taken to develop and implement this code of practice and helps to identify implications for a proposed Canadian code. View Document Author(s): Evlyn Fortier and Marc Saner March 2004 There has been considerable interest in the Queensland Code for Biotechnology since its implementation in June 2001. In Canada, the Queensland Code has been considered a possible model for a Canadian Code for Biotechnology. To examine the development and effectiveness of this model, interviews were conducted with a number of stakeholders in Queensland, including representatives of industry, government and academic research. This report presents the results of these interviews and reports on the impact of the Code on biotechnology in Queensland. View Document Author(s): Evlyn Fortier and Marc Saner February 2004 Prepared by the IOG for the Office of Biotechnology and Science at Health Canada, this paper investigates the benefits of a code for biotechnology in Canada and a possible model for such a code. It examines the rationale for a code, explores the merits and drawbacks of three model codes, and conducts a preliminary preference analysis based on stakeholder interviews. The paper concludes that the development of a code is worth pursuing, but that more consultation and research is required. View Document Author(s): Marc Saner and Jake Wilson December 2003 As the IOG discovered in a survey of common usages of the term 'stewardship' in various contexts around the world, the term has gained currency in a wide variety of policy debates - particularly around environmental, product, and technological stewardship - but there is remarkably little consistency to the concept's meaning. This policy brief clarifies the meaning of ‘stewardship’ by: (1) outlining common current usages; (2) illustrating the problems with inconsistent usages in the context of biotechnology in Canada; and (3) comparing ‘stewardship’ to the related concepts of ‘good governance’ and ‘ethics’. View Document November 2003 This paper explores what biotechnology information requirements legislators might have to support informed decision-making. It considers existing biotechnology education programs, including the National Judicial Institute and Genome B.C., and offers basic communication approaches to help provide legislators with effective decision-making tools. View Document Author(s): Andrew Davidge and Nancy Wildgoose September 2003 This paper, prepared for the Canadian Biotechnology Secretariat, is a comparison of approaches taken by seven jurisdictions to two policy demands of biotechnology: cross-governmental coordination and strategy development. The jurisdictions examined include the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and Australia, as well as Quebec and Ontario. View Document Author(s): Marc Saner September 2003 This revised version of a paper originally created for Environment Canada in 2001 provides a short, practical introduction to environmental ethics. Written specifically for scientists, it covers the entire research process and addresses issues relevant to the regulation and field use of products. Également disponible en français : Version française View Document Biotechnology Forum III: Bridging Troubled Waters: Canada's Role Connecting Biotechnology to Global Human Needs Author(s): Andrew DavidgeJune 2003 This paper summarizes Forum III, the third event of IOG’s Biotechnology and Governance Program. The session brought together 60 decision-makers from both inside and outside government to examine biotechnology’s relevance to Canada's foreign and international development policy. View Document April 2003 This summary provides an overview of the second forum session in IOG’s Biotechnology and Governance Program. Attended by over 60 senior managers in the federal government, as well as representatives of academe, civil society, media and industry, the event focused on the challenges biotechnology has presented to the regulatory framework and stewardship responsibilities of government. View Document Current Uses of the Notion 'Stewardship': Survey and Preliminary Analysis in the Canadian Biotechnology Context Author(s): John Capelli and Marc SanerMarch 2003 There is much confusion about the usage of the term 'stewardship' in the Canadian biotechnology context, and attempts are being made to reconceptualize the term. This paper, commissioned by Health Canada, provides background information by providing a catalogue of the various stewardship concepts utilized in Canada and internationally, particularly as they relate to the regulatory context and the biotechnology sector. It also contain a brief theoretical examination and ethical analysis of the current use of ‘stewardship.’ View Document Author(s): Marc Saner January 2003 Originally prepared for the Interdepartmental Working Group on Ethics and Public Confidence in Biotechnology, this paper argues that governments should consider ethical issues not only at the regulatory stage of biotech products, but during the entire product life cycle. The article develops a framework to identify the life cycle stage at which various ethical issues could be addressed and the sectors that could have a role in addressing these issues. The report will be published in a special 2005 ethics edition of the International Journal for Risk Assessment and Management. View Document Author(s): Marc Saner January 2003 Originally published in Nature Biotechnology, this paper has now been anthologized in a book by Michael Ruse and David Castle entitled Genetically Modified Foods, New York: Prometheus Books. It examines the ethical debate surrounding modern biotechnology from the process vs. product perspective, arguing that fully understanding these two viewpoints is crucial to moving the debate ahead. For more information, please contact Marc Saner at msaner@iog.ca. View earlier version January 2003 This paper summarizes Forum I, the first event in IOG’s Biotechnology and Governance Program. Attended by some 50 senior managers in the federal government, as well as representatives of academe, civil society, media and industry, the session focused on the regulation and use of patents in the context of both higher life forms and the health care system. View Document Author(s): Marc Saner August 2002 Originally published in the International Journal of Biotechnology (2002) vol 4, no.1, 81-95, this article examines how diverging conceptions of the 'good world' affect the conceptualisation of the precautionary principle. Copies of the article are available from the author, who can be contacted at msaner@iog.ca. View abstract Author(s): Lesley Boucher, David Cashaback, Tim Plumptre and Andrea Simpson February 2002 The pace and scope of recent advances in biotechnology require a different set of tools and strategies by which society and its institutions of governance respond to and anticipate change. This paper looks at the challenges transformative technologies are posing for traditional governance structures. View Document Author(s): Bill Woodley October 2001 Sponsored by the Law Commission of Canada, this paper investigates several technologies which have had major impacts on society in the past, with the aim of identifying any parallels or lessons about the types of challenges we will face in dealing with the ICT and bioscience revolutions. View Document Author(s): Institute On Governance January 2001 This report includes the results of a symposium on the Life Sciences and Public Policy organised by the Institute on Governance, in collaboration with the Royal Society of Canada and the Policy Research Secretariat. The symposium brought together a group of scientists, ethicists, jurists, non-governmental organisations, senior policy-makers and former politicians to discuss the issues and challenges posed by the life sciences. View Document
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