So goes the title of The Star's editorial this morning as it raises some very pressing questions about how over three weeks elapsed between the discovery of E.coli in the XL Foods' Lakeside Packers plant in Alberta and the meat recall that will likely be the largest in Canadian history.
In a stunning display of ministerial incompetence, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz's claims that Canada’s food inspection system has done a “tremendous job”. To make matters worse, at one point he thought that no potentially tainted beef had made it to store shelves.
As I noted yesterday, we can expect no accountability in the foreseeable future from a government that had largely delegated our food safety to industry self-regulation. However, perhaps a sobering understatement by Bob Kingston, president of the food inspectors’ Agriculture Union, puts things into their needed perspective:
Ottawa has put too much faith in private companies to do their own testing.
Unfortunately, I suspect those words will fork no lightning with the ideologically-driven Harper regime.
But it might eventually bring an admission from a mover and shaker somewhere -- like Alan Greenspan -- that there was a flaw in his, her or their world view.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope so, Owen. Meanwhile, let's also hope the voting public takes note of the implications of this flawed 'business' model.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it needs to be put on the menu of the Parliament Hill Restaurant. (Special today, Taint Fillet)
ReplyDeleteI like your thinking, Unknown.
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