Harper listeriosis investigation called out by union

Good for them: "Food inspectors’ union slams Tories over listeria probe."

A probe into a tainted-meat outbreak that has claimed 13 lives has more to do with protecting Prime Minister's Stephen Harper's election fortunes than safeguarding the Canadian public, says the union that represents food safety inspectors.

The group came out swinging Saturday after the Conservative government announced the "terms of reference" for an independent investigation that will look into the recent outbreak of listeriosis.

"We already know the problem is too few inspectors . . . in a system that relies too much on the food industry to police itself," Bob Kingston, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada's Agriculture Union, said in a news release.

...

Mr. Kingston said the Conservatives are trying to sweep the issue of food safety under the table before the start of the federal election campaign, expected to begin today.

"They're desperate to keep it off the table because they have too much to answer for," Mr. Kingston told Canwest News Service.

The Harper government has changed the way government inspectors do their work at meat plants such as the Maple Leaf facility in Toronto.

A new system, which began on March 31, puts an emphasis on the auditing of company records instead of direct visual inspections.

The union has been critical of the move toward self-regulation.

Mr. Kingston says his members have expressed fears about how limitations on how much time they spend on plant floors will affect the safety of the food Canadians buy.

Earlier reporting on such complaints from inspectors can be found here.

What's new in last night's report, in addition to the union's bold challenge to the Harper government, are some statistics that Kingston wheeled out to undercut the claim Gerry Ritz has been repeatedly peddling in the last few weeks about increased funding for food safety. This looks pretty damaging:

And, while Mr. Harper has emphasized a $113-million boost in funding for food and product safety in the 2008 budget, the union said the Tories actually have plans to slash funding for food safety programs.

Tory spending plans would see funding for food safety programs cut by almost 30 per cent from 2006 to 2011, the union said. It cited numbers from the Treasury Board of Canada Reports on Plans and Priorities.

Figures from the same source suggest the Conservatives would cut food safety staff by 19 per cent during the same period, the union said. (emphasis added)

Looking forward to hearing a response to that information.

I would also make the point that the terms of reference of Harper's investigation appear to be superficial, with little evidence of a serious commitment to find out what went wrong. These are the principal terms:

* Examine the events, circumstances and factors that contributed to the outbreak.
* Review the efficiency and effectiveness of the response by federal agencies in terms of prevention, the recall of contaminated products, and collaboration and communication among partners in the food safety system and the public.
* Make recommendations aimed at enhancing prevention of future outbreaks and the removal of contaminated products from stores and warehouses.

Perfectly boilerplate. You could drive a Mack truck through that first bullet point. It could be completely confined to the business at which the outbreak occurred, eliminating any consideration of regulatory changes passed by the government in their entirety. You can just imagine the claims of cabinet secrecy or some other privilege or privacy right being asserted.

Further, the terms of reference are toothless in terms of any indication as to who would run the investigation. Would it be a judicial inquiry? A public inquiry? A private firm like BMCI who investigated NAFTAgate and the Bernier affair, quietly and without any real results, on behalf of Mr. Harper? Perhaps they're on a volume discount retainer with Mr. Harper. We don't know who would run Mr. Harper's listeriosis investigation, but we do have his track record of useless investigation.

Back to the main report here...this was an intriguing development, not only for the utility of the union voicing its concerns on this serious issue. The union served notice that the Harper government is going to have more opponents in this election than they know.