New food safety and veterinary chief officers at CFIA

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

by SUSAN MANN

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has a new chief food safety officer and a new chief veterinary officer.

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced the appointments of Dr. Martine Dubuc, chief food safety officer, and Dr. Ian Alexander, chief veterinary officer, in a press release Tuesday. Dr. Brian Evans previously held both positions. He has now been named special adviser to CFIA president George Da Pont.

Dubuc has been with the CFIA since 2008. Previously she was a senior official in the Quebec government and was responsible for animal health and the food safety system. In addition to her job as chief food safety officer, Dubuc will continue as the agency’s vice president of science.

As the chief food safety officer, Dubuc says by email she will be the CFIA’s champion in its continual efforts to strengthen focus and leadership on food safety. “Over the coming weeks I will be working closely with Dr. Evans and the CFIA’s food safety experts and policy leaders to determine both short and long-term food safety priorities.”

Dubuc says she plans to work with Alexander on common areas related to animal health, food safety and public health. She will also work with other officials at Health Canada on food safety and human health matters and she’ll continue building on the relationships that have been established with the provinces, territories, academia, industry and other stakeholders in Canada.

Alexander, who joined CFIA in 2010 from Health Canada, says by email he considers it an honour to be named chief veterinary officer for Canada. “I look forward to the challenge of this important role and am committed to continuing the excellent work of Dr. Brian Evans.”

In addition to being the country’s chief veterinarian, Alexander will continue his current duties as executive director of the Animal Health Directorate. He says in the dual role he’ll “combine an in depth knowledge of the CFIA’s animal health policies and programs with a broader international perspective.”

As for Evans, he’ll continue serving as the Canadian government’s delegate to the World Organization for Health (OIE) and on the OIE Council representing the 30 member countries of the OIE region for the Americas. Both Ritz and Da Pont recognized Evans’ 14 years of service as Canada’s chief veterinarian and two years as the country’s first chief food safety officer.

Da Pont says in the press release Evans played an important part in shaping Canada’s animal health policies over the years, first at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and then at CFIA. He also provided leadership on food safety at the agency. BF