Abstract
While no access and benefit-sharing policy is yet in place in Canada, consent, benefit sharing and other issues relevant to bioprospecting and biodiversity research are important points of discussion at national as well as institutional and community levels. Although some plant species in Canada that are heavily exploited for commercial purposes have suffered serious decline, which has affected cultural uses by Aboriginal peoples, a primary difference from the San- Hoodia case is that much of the Canadian biodiversity debate has taken place in the abstract, based largely on rights and responsibilities emerging from potential scenarios rather than real instances of successful commercial products derived from traditional knowledge. New national human research ethics guidelines for research involving Aboriginal peoples are likely to provide a key reference point for addressing issues raised in the biodiversity context when the appropriation of traditional knowledge is involved.
Canadian biodiversity policy will likely include good ethical practice standards and promote collaboration and adherence to community-level protocols for current and future biodiversity research and development. However, traditional knowledge appropriation from already published literature is unlikely to be addressed, even though such knowledge may not have made its way into the published record by ethical means. This significant policy gap should be informed by the San- Hoodia case, which sets an important precedent by enabling Aboriginal communities and biological populations to be supported through benefits and capacity-building, even when bioprospecting is based on the published literature.
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1 ‘Aboriginal peoples’ refers collectively to the descendants of the original inhabitants of Canada. The Constitution of Canada recognizes three separate peoples with unique heritages, languages, cultural practices, and spiritual beliefs. The three Aboriginal peoples of Canada are: Inuit, Métis and Indian (noting that the term ‘Indian’ has largely been replaced with ‘First Nation’ in common usage). Inuit are northern Aboriginal peoples. Métis are of mixed European and First Nations ancestry. First Nation people comprise the largest and most diverse group of Aboriginal peoples in Canada with over 600 First Nations bands and over 50 languages.
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2 With over 600 recognized First Nations bands in Canada, multiple claims to knowledge of a particular plant would be likely and claims could be extremely complex.
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3 Awareness-raising activities have included the following workshops and meetings:
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Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources: The Science and Technology Agenda Experts' Workshop (December 2004)
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Northern Workshop on Access to Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge and Benefit Sharing (March 2005)
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Genetic Resources in Agriculture: Their role, Their Governance — Implications for Access & Benefit Sharing (November 2005)
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Access to Forest Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing: Potential Opportunities and Challenges for Governments and Forest Stakeholders (February 2006)
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National Meeting on ABS and Certificates (November 2006)
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4 See http://www.ec.gc.ca/apa-abs/index.cfm?lang=eng. Accessed 1 August 2009
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5 Canada's national ethics policy governing academic research involving humans, called the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, was adopted in 1998. In December 2008, a substantially revised draft second edition was released for public consultation. The release of a revised version of the draft to the public for further comment is anticipated in Fall 2009 and, following a second consultation period, a final draft is expressed in February 2010 (see http://pre.ethics.gc.ca/eng/index/). Accessed 1 August 2009).
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6 Examples are the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Research Ethics Committee in British Columbia and the Mi'kmaq Ethics Watch in Nova Scotia.
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7 Here are some examples of Aboriginal community research protocols and guidelines in Canada:
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Mi'kmaq Research Principles and Protocols (Mi'kmaw Ethics Watch 2000)
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‘Namgis First Nation Guidelines for Visiting Researchers/Access to Information (‘Namgis First Nation n.d.)
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Code of Ethics for Researchers Conducting Research Concerning the Ktunaxa Nation (Ktunaxa Nation 1998)
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Tl'azt'en Nation Guidelines for Research in Tl'azt'en Territory (Tl'azt'en Nation 1998)
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Protocols and Principles for Conducting Research in a Nuu-chah-nulth Context (Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Research Ethics Committee 2004)
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Bannister, K. (2009). Human Research Ethics Guidelines as a Basis for Consent and Benefit Sharing: A Canadian Perspective. In: Wynberg, R., Schroeder, D., Chennells, R. (eds) Indigenous Peoples, Consent and Benefit Sharing. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3123-5_16
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