Gates Charity Miffed By Alleged Conflict-of-Interest Involving Federal Official

Bill Gates’s charitable foundation has snuffed out a $5.2-million grant to a Canadian initiative to curb smoking in Africa, citing troubling federal links to the tobacco industry.

It nixed the federal project after learning that a key player, Mulroney-era cabinet minister Barbara McDougall, was also on the board of directors at Imperial Tobacco Canada.

McDougall has been chair of the federal International Development Research Centre since 2007, and until a few weeks ago, was also on the board at Imperial.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said in a news release Monday that it’s disappointed by what it calls an unacceptable conflict of interest.

The African Tobacco Control Alliance, a key Canadian partner in the two-year Research for International Tobacco Control project, joined the U.S. billionaire’s organization in cutting ties with the project.

The alliance has pulled out of a pan-African conference it was scheduled to co-host with IDRC at the end of the month in Dakar, Senegal.

McDougall’s position at Imperial Tobacco raised fears of industry influence in Africa, a region seen as a growing market for tobacco manufacturers, the head of the alliance said.

“This is a clear conflict of interest and we find it deplorable,” the alliance’s chair, Rachel Kitnyo, said in a statement.

“In country-after-country (sic), the tobacco industry seeks to avoid, delay, dilute and defeat laws and policies designed to reduce tobacco use. It is vital to protect public health policies from tobacco industry interference.”

By allowing McDougall to stay on with IDRC, Kitnyo said Canada also broke its obligations under a global World Health Organization tobacco treaty.

Anti-smoking groups condemned the Canadian government for allowing McDougall to remain on the board at the development agency.

“There’s still great concern in the international community about her continued ties, even if only informal, to the tobacco industry,” said Neil Collishaw, research director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada.

“As long as Barbara McDougall remains on the board of directors of IDRC, tobacco-control workers around the world will continue to question whether they should be working with Research for International Tobacco Control.”

The project aims to develop tobacco-control policies to reduce tobacco use and production in Africa.

Collishaw said much of the data on the project has already been gathered, but everything could be lost without continued funding.

In a recent letter, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada called on the federal government to resolve the situation, but they have yet to receive a response, he said.

A spokeswoman for IDRC said Monday the board never discussed tobacco control while McDougall was working for Imperial Tobacco.

In an email, Angela Prokopiak said the agency is still trying to determine what remains to be done to complete the project.

“The Gates Foundation has informed IDRC that this decision will not affect its other programming relationships with the centre, which both the Gates Foundation and IDRC continue to value highly,” she wrote.

McDougall served as secretary of state for external affairs from 1991 to 1993. Her term on the board at Imperial Tobacco ended last month.

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