The world can't afford sporadic adherence to science

It is universally recognized that vaccines have been among the most important innovations in modern civilization. They have helped to nearly eradicate devastating diseases like smallpox and polio. Yet despite their incredible success and global scientific consensus on safety and effectiveness, challenges with public perception remain.

In the face of the COVID-19 crisis the world came together in a truly remarkable way to cooperate on the development of vaccines. The scientific community rose to the challenge, delivering safe and effective vaccines within less than a year. And leaders and scientific experts globally agree that vaccinating the population is our way out of this pandemic.

But in France, which has one of the top ranked healthcare systems in the word, people’s hesitancy about vaccines threatens the country’s ability to fight the disease. An Ipsos poll published in January found that 45 per cent of French adults said they would refuse a COVID-19 vaccine compared to 21 per cent in the UK and 30 per cent in Germany.

A 2019 Gallup poll found that one in three French people think all vaccines are dangerous. Despite these numbers the French government has decided to stay the course with its vaccine rollout program and focus on education and awareness about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Much to France’s credit, the government is siding with science because the challenge before the country is too great not to.

Juxtapose France’s approach on vaccines to its approach on agriculture and you’ll be left scratching your head. The world is facing some enormous humanitarian challenges when it comes to food security and climate change. And just as technology and innovation will help us overcome COVID-19, they can help us combat world hunger and strengthen our food system in the face of changing climate conditions. But France and much of Europe have long opposed agricultural biotechnology (the same kind of technology being harnessed in vaccine development) and adopted ideological approaches to regulating important tools like pesticides.

As an export dependent nation, this kind of flip-flop approach to science is challenging for Canada. And while it can at times be tempting to pander to the ideological whims of some trading partners, it would be the equivalent of playing a never-ending game of ‘Whack-A-Mole’ and won’t help us in the long run.

While not perfect, there are mechanisms to protect against non-tariff trade barriers and Canada should continue to pursue trade deals with export markets around the world and hold those who do not adhere to rules-based trade to account through the World Trade Organization.

Canada is a world leader in agriculture with room to grow. The industry’s success has been founded in part on its commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, which has been supported by science-based regulatory processes and Canadian farmers that are early adopters of innovation.

Gene editing is an exciting innovation that is coming to the forefront in agriculture and being discussed by regulators around the world. This technology has the ability to help take Canadian agriculture to the next level, developing disease-resistant crops for farmers faster, making crops more resistant to extreme weather, creating healthier foods and helping to reduce food waste.

CropLife Canada and our value chain partners are committed to an open dialogue about agricultural innovations and that’s the reason we recently launched Nature Nurtured – a campaign to help raise the level of awareness and understanding about gene edited crops in Canada.

As the science continues to demonstrate the safety and value of this technology, we need the Canadian government – and governments around the world – to stand courageously for science in agriculture as they have done for science in vaccines. The alternative is standing directly in the way of agriculture’s ability to mitigate the impacts of climate change and contribute to greater food security. These global challenges won’t wait for us.

Pierre Petelle, president and CEO, CropLife Canada