The federal Conservative government, coping with fallout from a contaminated food crisis that by Aug. 25 had claimed 12 lives across Canada, denied it is planning cuts at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Opposition MPs and critics had been feasting on a leaked government document from late 2007 suggesting the agency was being asked to cut five percent of its budget, transfer some front-line inspection responsibilities to industry and reduce some of its spending on avian influenza and BSE testing.
On Aug. 21, after days of political accusations, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz told a hastily arranged news conference in Ottawa that contrary to reports, CFIA spending and staffing have been increased.
Read Also
Phosphate prices to remain high
Phosphate prices are expected to remain elevated, according to Mosaic’s president.
“First, let me state that there are no cuts,” he said. “There are no cuts at this particular point.”
He said the leaked document was a planning exercise trying to find some savings by ending programs that are unnecessary or duplications.
Ritz also called ridiculed comments by Liberal leader Stéphane Dion that federal Conservative inspection cuts could create the same public health crisis that led to the Walkerton, Ont., contaminated water disaster, which was blamed on 1990s provincial Conservative water inspection cuts.
“If you look at last year’s budget, we increased the funding to CFIA by some 113 million new dollars,” Ritz said. “We’ve hired over 200 new inspectors to make sure this type of situation does not occur. So I’m not sure where they are basing the facts they are getting.”
Later, when pressed by reporters about whether the 2007 planning document could lead to cuts, he said the majority of recommendations have not been implemented and CFIA practices and funding will be assessed as needs arise to make sure they are as effective as possible.
“So you know, we’re trying to build a better mousetrap here,” he said.
Opposition MPs, government union representatives and other critics were not mollified. They demanded that the Conservatives release the secret planning document and end any talk of CFIA budget cuts and what they called inspection privatization.
On Aug. 25, when the official count of deaths connected to listeria bacteria found on meat products from a Maple Leaf Food plant in Toronto had risen to 12, Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter pounced.
“This government has approved plans to walk away from critical food inspections,” he said.
“CFIA has admitted that it has cut funding to avian influenza preparedness. The current recall of food shows how important it is to have the CFIA on the job. Now is the time to invest more in food safety, not less. We don’t need a government that is trying to cover that up.”
