The Harper government continues to endanger food safety nearly two years after the deadly listeriosis outbreak and almost eight months after the Weatherill report recommended a better inspection system be implemented, Liberal MPs said today.
“Last summer, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz promised all Weatherill recommendations would be implemented, starting with 70 new meat inspectors – and still nothing has happened,” said Liberal Agriculture Critic Wayne Easter. “We now face another investigation into contaminated meat, including a review of five more deaths.”
“We now learn that plants packaging meat for the U.S. market must be inspected daily in order to meet U.S. standards, while plants that package meat for our domestic market get inspected only once a week,” said Mr. Easter. “How is this supposed to build confidence in our meat inspection system?”
News reports reveal Minister Ritz ordered the ramp-up of the inspection cycle to one visit every 12 hours at meat processing plants that serve American consumers following an audit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Meanwhile, inspection of food destined for Canadian store shelves has not increased and the promised 70 new meat inspectors have not yet appeared. Bob Kingston, the head of the union representing inspectors with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, recently confirmed, “We are still waiting for them to show up on the frontlines.”
“The Conservative government’s do-nothing negligence has got to stop,” said Liberal Health Critic Dr. Carolyn Bennett. “When will this government wake up and finally take action on this very serious matter? Canadians want to see action to improve the safety of the food they eat, and they want a government that takes their health and safety as seriously as their neighbours to the south.”
“Enough with the stalling – get the new inspectors in place and implement Ms. Weatherill’s recommendations now, before we have another tragedy,” said Dr. Bennett.
