The Alberta New Democrats are calling for a public inquiry into how the government has handled the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis.
ND MLA Brian Mason said only an arms length investigation into how the province handled the BSE investigation would restore the confidence of Canada’s beef trading partners.
“In light of the premier’s comments yesterday, our trading partners need to be assured, by someone other than government representatives, that our beef is safe,” said Mason, referring to comments Alberta premier Ralph Klein made at a western governors meeting in Montana.
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At the meeting, Klein said Marwyn Peaster, the northern Alberta farmer who had the BSE case, shouldn’t have sent the animal to slaughter, but instead should have disposed of it on his farm.
“This was in northern Alberta, and the farmer was a – I think he was a Louisiana fish farmer – who knew nothing about cattle ranching. And I guess any self-respecting rancher would have shot, shovelled and shut up, but he didn’t do that. Instead, he took it to an abattoir and it was discovered after testing in both Winnipeg and the U.K. that this cow, this older cow, had mad cow disease,” said Klein.
Klein later said he wasn’t counselling Peaster to break the law, but was only repeating the frustrations he had heard in rural areas about the border not being reopened.
Mason said the government also needs to answer a series of questions including why it took four months to test the animal and what damage Klein’s advice will do.
John Knapp, director of the rural services division in Alberta Agriculture, said no one has been a more vocal supporter of the beef industry than the premier.
“No one has worked harder,” said Knapp.
Knapp said the government is committed to a “very thorough audit” of all the BSE compensation programs the province has offered.
