Addressees of the letter:
Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Cc:
Hon. Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada
Hon. Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health
Bill Matthews, Deputy Minister and Deputy Receiver General for Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada
Dr. Stephen Lucas, Deputy Minister of Health, Health Canada

Dear Right Honorable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau;

The undersigned organizations express serious concern about the recent investment collaboration between the Government of Canada and Philip Morris International (PMI) regarding a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Medicago Inc.

Medicago is a foreign-owned company operating in Québec, and PMI currently holds one-third of the equity in the company. PMI is also investing additional funds in the development of the vaccine itself and is therefore leveraging the Government of Canada’s investment of US$130M in the development of the vaccine candidate.

This agreement breaches several articles and sections of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)—a global public health treaty to which Canada is a full signatory. The violations include:

(1) Collaborating with tobacco companies on corporate social responsibility strategies;

(2) Investing in tobacco industry ventures; and

(3) Indirectly promoting a tobacco company and its brands.

We note with concern that the news release announcing the Medicago investment issued by the Prime Minister on October 23, 2020 makes no reference to PMI’s significant role as a major investor in Medicago and in the vaccine itself. However a global news release issued by PMI on October 24, 2020 clearly frames its investment as a joint venture with the Government of Canada and as a corporate social responsibility measure including the following quote from CEO André Calantzopoulos of PMI:

“Better outcomes can be achieved when governments and companies join efforts to promote shared objectives for the greater good.”

The potential development of a COVID-19 vaccine could very well represent one of the most successful public relations strategies ever mounted by a tobacco company. The involvement of the Government of Canada is disturbing and represents gross oversight or indifference of the government’s obligations under the Framework Convention. PMI’s involvement with Medicago is no secret and it was profiled in a communique issued by the tobacco giant last March and is disclosed in corporate regulatory filings.

The Government of Canada was a strong supporter and early adopter of the Framework Convention. At the Eighth Conference of the Parties in October 2018, the Government of Canada’s delegation championed a decision urging all 182 participating nations to accelerate the implementation of Article 5.3 of the FCTC to limit government interactions with tobacco companies. Ironically, the Government of Canada has yet to implement its own cross-government guidelines for Article 5.3 for all governing bodies within its jurisdiction. The absence of strong guidelines may have facilitated the recent PMI collaboration.

By collaborating with PMI on a vaccine candidate, the Government of Canada is demonstrating complete disregard for its treaty obligations under the FCTC. Moreover, the government appears to be turning a blind eye to the tobacco industry and the pandemic of eight million deaths annually that it is fueling—including 47,000 annual deaths in Canada. Addressing one pandemic should not result in the promotion of another.

The Convention discourages participating nations from entering any partnership or collaboration with tobacco companies based on the tobacco industry’s track record of exploiting governments to its commercial advantage which is intrinsically detrimental to public health.

The many transgressions of tobacco companies—including PMI—are very well documented in legal filings by 13 Canadian subnational governments representing $500 billion in total claims for health care costs resulting from alleged industry deception and negligence. The Canadian federal government has also collected and analyzed many such documents in its own tobacco industry lawsuits to uphold its tobacco legislation including laws to restrict tobacco advertising, sponsorship, and promotion.

Based on these concerns and the related breaches of the FCTC, the undersigned organizations make the following recommendations o the Government of Canada and all relevant government departments, including Health Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada to:

(1) Reject the Medicago agreement based on the requirements of the FCTC to which the Government of Canada is a full signatory.

(2) Cancel the agreement and reinvest the funds in vaccine development that is not co-sponsored or underwritten by tobacco companies.

(3) Develop strong cross-government guidelines to fully implement Article 5.3 of the FCTC to prevent future partnerships, collaborations, and joint investments with the tobacco industry and related ventures and schemes that are substantially financed, supported or sponsored by tobacco companies.

(4) Implement these guidelines throughout the Government of Canada including all Ministries, boards, agencies, commissions, Crown corporations and all subsidiaries, and pension funds.

(5) Collaborate with Canadian subnational governments to ensure full compliance with these guidelines among provincial and territorial governments.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important public health matter.

Signed,