Did Bush cattle trade while in Ottawa? 
by Romeo St. Martin

[PoliticsWatch Posted 5:00 p.m. January 7, 2005]

U.S. President George W. Bush shares a laugh with Prime Minister Paul Martin in the Centre Block Rotunda on Parliament Hill in November.

OTTAWA — Questions are being raised in the U.S. media about whether U.S. President George W. Bush cut a deal on Canadian cattle while in Ottawa in November that resulted in Canada's new hard line against Internet pharmacies. 
 
A Fox News story that aired Thursday evening focused on Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh's new plan to table legislation that would all but end the Canadian Internet pharmacy industry that sells Canadian drugs at cheaper regulated prices to U.S. consumers. 

The Fox story raised the possibility about pressure from Bush during his recent visit to Canada and linked the Canadian crackdown on Web pharmacies to the U.S decision last week to open the border to Canadian cattle.

"Incidentally, just last week, the U.S. relaxed restrictions on beef imports from Canada," Fox reporter Steve Brown said after reporting the White House had denied Bush pressured Martin on Web pharmacies. 

What happened behind closed doors in meetings between Martin and Bush may never be known. 

But observers of the Web pharmacy industry in Canada have noticed that Dosanjh has escalated a war on Internet pharmacies since Bush was invited to Ottawa by Martin after being re-elected in November. 

Last month, Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, whose province is the hub of Web pharmacies, accused Dosanjh of "folding like a cheap suit" to the Americans for his recent warnings about the dangers Canadian Internet pharmacies. 

When PoliticsWatch tried to find out where the government stood on Internet pharmacies in August, we were referred to bureaucrats at Health Canada who said, "The export of drugs approved for use in Canada is legal in Canada. Health Canada's responsibility is to ensure that those involved in the industry comply with the requirements of Canada's Food and Drug Act and regulations."

But just a week after Bush was re-elected and invited to Ottawa by the PM, Dosanjh began speaking publicly and raising alarms about the industry. 

It was at that time that he delivered a speech at Harvard University in which he coined his catchphrase "Canada cannot be the drugstore of the United States." At the time, Dosanjh was only arguing about the impact selling drugs to the U.S. could have on supply.

But two weeks after the Bush visit to Ottawa, Dosanjh upped the ante again, this time suggesting that the Internet pharmacies could have an impact on Canada's drug pricing regime and could hit Canadian consumers in the pocketbook.

"We have a pricing regime that is for the benefit of Canadians and if that pricing regime comes crashing down, all of the provinces … will pay huge amounts of money," Dosanjh said to reporters in a scrum after question period "It's very, very important for me as the minister of health of Canada to make sure we're on the look out and we stand on guard for the pricing regime we have in Canada."

And a week after the U.S. Agriculture Department announced it was opening its borders to Canadian cattle under 30 months of age - the first major breakthrough since Canada reported a case of Mad Cow in the spring of 2003 - Dosanjh's office told a U.S. news agency that the minister was considering a three-pronged draft proposal that would prevent Canadian doctors from co-signing prescriptions for U.S. patients without examining them in person, which would effectively kill the industry.

Even more surprising about the U.S. reopening its border was just a day later Canada reported another suspected case of Mad Cow in 10-year-old dairy cow. The U.S. has stood behind its decision to reopen the border.

"Something is happening," says NDP health critic Bill Blaikie. "I'm not sure exactly what's happening.

"It just seems that something has really been pumped up in the last month or so."

Blaikie said Dosanjh has not made the case that Internet pharmacy industry should be shut down and that his party isn't likely to support legislation that would do so.

"It seems to me that either Mr. Dosanjh is under pressure from the drug companies directly or under pressure from the drug companies through the Bush administration."

During the 2004 election cycle, Bush was the pharmaceutical industry's favourite candidate, receiving over $961,000 in contributions, almost double the $501,000 his challenger, John Kerry, received. 

During a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Scott McLellan said Bush and Martin did talk about Internet pharmacies but denied there was pressure applied.

"Absolutely not," he said. "Any such assertion is nonsense."

Blaikie said the White House would never admit to pressuring Canada but the fact the issue was raised with Martin is "significant."

But he said he had "absolutely no way of knowing" if there was a trade-off between Bush and Martin. 

David MacKay, executive director of the Canadian International Pharmacy Association, which represents Internet pharmacies, is more definitive about Dosanjh's motives, saying he has been "tapped by the prime minister to execute this industry."

"There's no doubt in my mind that what's at play here is pressure from the Bush administration, strong-arming the Canadian government and intimidating them into eliminating this industry and doing the handy work for George Bush and, ultimately, Big Pharma," he said.

MacKay said it is possible that trade concessions were made by the U.S. in exchange for the crackdown. 

"No one will ever know for sure," he said. "We know that George Bush sees our industry as a major irritant. It's very possible that he bartered for the elimination of our industry. I don't have the evidence to suggest whether that is indeed the case. But it would make sense intuitively for him to offer trade concessions to Canada." 

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