Phase 1 of the IDRC (International Development Research Centre) public scandal was the presence of a representative of the tobacco industry as chair of its Board (as Barbara McDougall was until March 2010).1 Phase 2 requires a question nobody asks: What did IDRC do with the Gates Foundation money under McDougall’s stewardship? What did IDRC do with the $3 505 535 that was not allocated to African grantees?
On December 2007, the Gates Foundation awarded $5 274 477 to IDRC to promote tobacco control in Africa. At the same time, McDougall, who was a Director of Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., became chair of the IDRC Board of Governors. Under her chairmanship, the African grantees apparently received $1 768 942, which represents between 30% and 33% of the grant awarded by the Gates Foundation. What happened to the remaining 67%?
Footnotes
For the full letter, go to: www.cmaj.ca/cgi/eletters/182/10/E427#551112
REFERENCE
- 1.Hébert PC, Reddy KS, Jha P. Canada’s perceived lack of leadership on global tobacco control. CMAJ. 2010;182:E427. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.100850. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]