Ritz faces criticism | Government deflects blame to XL Foods, points to failure to provide information in timely manner
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz was under pressure to resign last week as the recall of potentially contaminated beef from the XL Foods plant in Brooks, Alta., expanded to the largest in Canadian history.
He was having none of it.
Throughout the week, Ritz faced the biggest political and media firestorm in four years since the 2008 listeria crisis at a Maple Leaf plant in Toronto resulted in at least 22 deaths.
At the time, Ritz privately made a joke about the issue that was published and led to widespread calls for his political head.
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Prime minister Stephen Harper stuck with him then and last week, there was no suggestion this time will be different.
As the week ended in Parliament Oct. 5 and MPs headed home for a constituency week, Ritz was showing no signs of heeding the opposition advice.
Meanwhile, Conservative MPs and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency were deflecting blame away from the government and toward XL Foods, accusing it of being too slow in providing information to the government of their test results.
During an opposition-inspired emergency debate in the Commons Oct. 3, Manitoba cattle producer and national defence committee chair James Bezan chastised interim Liberal leader Bob Rae for blaming government incompetence for the problem.
“If the member understood the situation we are dealing with right now in Brooks, if he understood the situation with XL Foods, he would know that there is only one player in this whole situation that we need to blame and that really needs to be held to account and that is XL itself,” said the former executive director of the Manitoba Cattle Producers’ Association.
Ritz was on the hot seat in the Commons Oct. 4-5.
On Oct. 4, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair accused the government of putting meat processors in charge of their own inspections and argued that while the Americans closed the border to XL products from the Brooks plant Sept. 13, the plant was allowed to ship product to domestic consumers until Sept. 27.
“He is responsible,” said Mulcair. “Why is the minister of agriculture and agri-food still in his positions? He must resign.”
Ritz denied that there is a self-regulating system in packing plants and noted that CFIA had 46 staff assigned to the Brooks plant, one of Canada’s three largest meat processors.
On Oct. 4, he blamed XL for causing an unacceptable five-day delay in responding to a CFIA request for test results.
Meanwhile, the issue almost certainly will be raised at the House of Commons agriculture committee when MPs return Oct. 15. Liberal critic Frank Valeriote has presented a motion that the committee call witnesses on the issue.
If the Conservative majority on the committee agrees, XL Foods executives could find themselves in the public spotlight that they have tried to avoid since the issue arose.
Ritz and CFIA president George Da Pont would also be key witnesses.
Opposition MPs accused the Conservatives of being responsible because they have been cutting food safety funding in pursuit of deficit reduction.
Their argument was bolstered by a report from parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page Oct. 4 that looked at budget spending cut projections published in the spring.
He estimated that spending this fiscal year on food safety and biosecurity risks will fall 27 percent while CFIA budget projections are in for a five percent cut.
“People are sick from E. coli and yet the government continues to pretend that nothing is wrong,” said Valeriote.
“How many people must get sick before the minister will reverse cuts to the CFIA funding and give it the resources it needs to keep our food safe?
The government said the critics are wrong.
Budget allocations for food safety have increased by $150 million during the past two budgets.
Ritz said the massive meat recall actually is evidence that the system is working to protect consumers.
“As things swell out, we will ensure that Canadians are well-served by a robust recall system.”
