Pubdate: Tue, 13 Feb 2001
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  200 Granville Street, Ste.#1, Vancouver BC V6C 3N3
Fax: (604) 605-2323
Website: http://www.vancouversun.com/
Author: Glen McGregor

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEAL 'POLITICALLY MOTIVATED'

A B.C. Firm Says The Contract Was Made To Put Federal Money Into A 
Depressed Area

The award of a $5.75 million contract to grow medical marijuana was 
politically motivated and designed to pour money into an area with a 
high level of unemployment, according to a complaint filed against 
the federal government by a British Columbia company.

The contract to produce research-grade cannabis for Health Canada was 
awarded last December to Prairie Plant Systems, making the 
Saskatoon-based company the first legally sanctioned marijuana 
company in the country. The pot it produces will be used for clinical 
trials into use in treating illness.

But a competing firm says the government added stringent financial 
requirements to the tendering process to ensure it went to Prairie 
Plant Systems.

Brian Taylor, CEO of the B.C.- based Cannabis Research Institute, has 
filed a complaint with the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, 
which rules on disputes over the tendering of federal government 
contracts. In it, he claims that the award was "politically 
motivated" by a concern for the high levels of unemployment in Flin 
Flon, Man., where Prairie Plant Systems intends to locate its 
marijuana farm.

The complaint alleges that the federal government "worked with this 
company, before and during the bid process, to ensure that PPs was 
able to comply with the mandatory financial requirements."

Taylor's company was one of the firms knocked out of the bidding 
process after the government rewrote the contract specifications to 
require a $1-million performance bond.

The complaint to the CITT contends that the bond requirement 
discriminated against smaller companies unable to secure large 
financing and is illegal under the NAFTA provisions that concern 
government tendering.

Taylor, who is also leader of B.C.'s provincial Marijuana party, says 
the bond requirement was added after Health Minister Allan Rock began 
receiving unsolicited packages of pot from home-growers who had seen 
media reports about the government's search for a supplier.

The CITT rejected Taylor's complaint last month, mostly over 
technical and jurisdictional issues, but he has refiled his complaint 
and asked the tribunal to reconsider. He has not yet received a 
response. Neither Health Canada nor Public Works and Services Canada, 
which tendered the contract, would comment on the case before the 
CITT.
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