Drug companies and pharmacies donated nearly $600,000 to the B.C. Liberals over the past eight years — almost 14 times more than what was given to the NDP.
The Vancouver Sun analyzed political donations between 2005 and 2012 and, while the tally may not be exhaustive, found drug companies, pharmaceutical organizations and pharmacies donated $582,549 to the Liberals and $41,850 to the NDP.
These include:
• Johnson & Johnson — $49,121 to the Liberals, $0 to the NDP.
• Pfizer Canada — $39,427 to the Liberals, $645 to the NDP.
• GlaxoSmithKline — $32,412 to the Liberals, $0 to the NDP.
• Canada’s Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D) — $26,000 to the Liberals, $450 to the NDP.
• Merck Canada — $24,716 to the Liberals, $0 to the NDP.
• Amgen Canada Inc — $23,275 to the Liberals, $0 to the NDP.
And many of those big Liberal donors — including Pfizer and Merck — are among the most active lobbyists who meet with politicians to speak about policy decisions.
What influence these multinational drug companies may have had over past provincial governments has been raised during the election campaign.
The NDP made this a campaign issue when it vowed to renew funding for the Therapeutics Initiative, a well-regarded drug-review agency that was shelved by the Liberals.
NDP leader Adrian Dix said the independent agency was necessary to test drug safety, free of any influence from deep-pocketed pharmaceutical companies.
The governing Liberals cut off the Therapeutics Initiative’s access to key health data as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged inappropriate sharing of B.C. health records, which has so far led to the termination of seven Ministry of Health employees.
Five of the people affected by the scandal are suing the province, and one claims big pharmaceutical companies have donated generously to the Liberals and influenced the government’s drug policy decisions.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
Donations like these are why the NDP has pledged, if elected, to ban all corporate and union political donations, said health critic Mike Farnworth.
“When you see these kinds of numbers and the decisions made by government, it raises questions,” he said.
“Because it’s just as much perception as reality, particularly in the case of the Therapeutics Initiative.”
Donations by pharmaceutical companies, however, are far from the largest received by political parties in B.C.
Over the same eight years, the Liberals got $1.7 million from mining giant Teck Resources and $822,814 from the New Car Dealers Association of B.C.
The NDP collected $1.4 million from the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union and $1.2 million from the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
