Harper's claim to have hired 200 new food inspectors highly dubious

The Globe magically fact checks Harper's Wednesday statement that his government has hired 200 new food inspectors for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. And they find that nope, no dice on the 200 new inspectors. We had a hint of the misleading nature of this neat 200 food inspector statistic that Gerry Ritz was throwing around at the height of the listeriosis outbreak, when the CFIA was unable to say where in fact the 200 new inspectors were working. Hint, you political geniuses...when you're trying to pass off such statistics, make sure they're verifiable. Or better yet, just tell the truth.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's claim that his government beefed up food safety with 200 new inspectors simply isn't true, says the head of the union at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Far from seeing new recruits, federal inspectors warn many existing positions are going unfilled, said Bob Kingston, the national president of the Agriculture Union representing inspectors.

“People are quitting in frustration, so when they hear stuff like ‘Oh, yeah, we just put 200 new inspectors in food inspection,' that's just absurd. Or at least it certainly isn't something that's seen at the meat inspection level,” said Mr. Kingston.

Mr. Kingston said the CFIA may have hired more people, but they aren't working in food safety.

Does Mr. Kingston have anything to back up his claim? Why yes, he does:

Dr. Brian Evans, the chief veterinary officer at the CFIA, has said the number of inspectors at the agency climbed from 2,820 in 2006 to 3,020 in 2008. He has not said whether those new hires work in food safety. The union counters with a document called the ‘Essential Service Agreement.' It is a chart outlining the number of inspectors in each category and how many are deemed essential in the event of a strike. The chart suggests there are less than 2,000 positions devoted to some form of food safety.(emphasis added)

So where did Mr. Harper get his 200 new inspector figure from? Doesn't look like it stands up to scrutiny. In fact, it just looks like they looked at some overall employee hiring numbers to spin the figure of 200 new inspectors having been hired.

Once again, we see an example of the Conservatives playing fast and loose with the facts for their own political benefit. With an issue that really deserves to be devoid of any kind of political considerations being made whatsoever.

As I've heard it said lately...do we really want more of this?