The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s new inspection oversight and audit system implemented in 2008 had deficiencies and many unanswered questions that affected last year’s listeria episode, says a report on the incident.
A pilot project on the new Compliance Verification System (CVS) had been completed and an evaluation of the results had been done but it was never “discussed throughout the CFIA hierarchy,” government-appointed investigator Sheila Weatherill reported July 21.
The agency had not figured out what resources would be needed to implement CVS nor fully provided necessary staff training.
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And the rules did not require CFIA inspectors to verify company listeria environmental controls while companies were not required to inform the agency if in-plant tests found incidents of contamination.
Weatherill said these problems meant there were gaps.
It led to one of the more controversial recommendations in her report.
Weatherill said that because there were conflicting views from management and the Public Service Alliance of Canada, she was not able to figure out what resources and staff CFIA currently puts into front-line food inspection and what is needed.
She recommended a third-party audit to get some answers.
And once those answers are available, CFIA should change the CVS system to ensure appropriate staff are available and properly trained.
Opposition political critics and inspector union president Bob Kingston said they were incredulous that Weatherill, with five months of work and access to government officials and documents, was not able to pin down the number of inspectors involved.
Bob Kingston, president of the agriculture union of PSAC, said he was stunned that she thinks a third-party auditor is needed.
“If she doesn’t know, it’s because of misinformation from CFIA or the minister,” he told a news conference. “We have the numbers and privately, CFIA tells us their numbers are very close to ours.”
Kingston insists understaffing is part of the problem.
New Democrat Malcolm Allen said Weatherill’s lack of conclusion on a basic question is “flabbergasting” and not credible to average Canadians.
But at a July 21 news conference, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said front line inspectors are not a static group.
“Each day and portions of the day, they may be asked to do different things so at any given time, it’s a snap shot. So for us to say definitely that there’s X amount of people doing this today, by later in the day that could change as their tasks move on.”
In her report, Weatherill said inspectors told her they were stressed at the Maple Leaf plant in Toronto because of the amount of work, lack of training and the fact they had other plants to inspect as well.
She said management did not take into account time inspectors spend travelling between plants and the fact that they have multiple plants and a combination of on-the-floor inspections and oversight of company safety reports.
