Canada’s federal regulator for the food and animal and plant health sectors is in the market for a new president following the incumbent’s retirement.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed its president, Dr. Siddika Mithani, has retired from the federal public service effective Jan. 20.
Mithani has led CFIA since February 2019, having served until then as president of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
She also came to the post with a doctorate in psychopharmacology and experience at senior management levels across several federal departments, including agriculture and agri-food, fisheries and oceans, health and environment and climate change.
Read Also
Newcastle disease identified in British Columbia
Newcastle disease has been detected on two commercial pigeon operations in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a June 19 notice to industry it’s the first time the virus has been detected in a commercial operation in Canada since 1973.
“We congratulate Dr. Mithani on her planned retirement at the culmination of a decades long career in the public service and wish her all the best in this next chapter,” the agency said in an emailed statement.
Jean-Guy Forgeron, CFIA’s executive vice-president, now leads the agency on an interim basis until a replacement is announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The job of CFIA president is among those senior leadership positions in the federal public service appointed by the Governor in Council, on the advice of the Clerk of the Privy Council. The term “Governor in Council” refers to Canada’s governor general acting on the advice of the federal cabinet.
Forgeron was named to the executive VP post last April, coming from a stint as senior assistant deputy minister at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), responsible for fisheries and harbour management. He previously worked for the Treasury Board of Canada and at the federal Privy Council Office.
For Mithani’s replacement, Canada’s National Farmers Union (NFU) on Tuesday called on Trudeau to name someone “who will uphold an unwavering commitment to preventing regulatory capture, and will provide the leadership needed to protect the interests of Canadians, our food and our environment and restore the CFIA’s reputation and credibility.”
The NFU and several other groups had jointly written to Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau last October calling for Mithani to be replaced, citing “serious concerns about the CFIA enabling corporate lobby groups to have inordinate influence over its regulatory decisions.”
CFIA at that time refuted the specific basis for that claim and called out “inaccuracies” in the NFU’s statement. The agency said in October it remains “an independent, scientific and evidence-based federal regulatory agency committed to ethical transparency and accountability.” –– Glacier FarmMedia Network
