Liberals called on the Harper government to immediately release to the public the full, unedited report on the listeriosis crisis that author Sheila Weatherill is due to deliver to Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz today.
“It’s time the Conservatives showed the accountability and transparency that they always lay claim to by releasing the full report and all its accompanying documentation immediately,” said Liberal Agriculture Critic Wayne Easter.
“We have concerns about this because of the way this government has handled this matter since day one. The report from the government’s hand-picked investigator, with a limited mandate conducted in private, is not sufficient. They have road-blocked any attempts to provide more transparency about the events of last summer. The Canadian Association of Journalists went so far as to award the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with their 2008 Secrecy Award, given to reflect the agency’s efforts at preventing the public from learning details about what happened.”
Liberal Health Critic Dr. Carolyn Bennett said this is too important an issue to be dealt with behind closed doors.
“The government appointed its own investigator in order to make private inquiries into the issue – a mandate that is obviously not transparent enough,” she said. “It’s why we have called all along for a full independent public inquiry. We will never truly be able to strengthen Canada’s food safety system until all Canadians know the complete truth about what happened.
“If the Minister has any respect at all for the commitment of his own investigator, he will release the entire report so Canadians can see for themselves whether or not this route was sufficient,” she said.
