Green Party Promise Judicial Investigation Into Tainted Meat Scandal

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The Green Party of Canada has promised to demand a full judicial investigation into Canada’s troubled meat inspection system. In addition, they would the Conservative government’s effort to undermine this country’s food safety program.

“We need a thorough and open investigation into not only how the listeria tragedy was handled but also into the broader dangers of the government’s undermining of meat safety enforcement,” Ms. May said.

“Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has cut back on its own inspection and enforcement and is leaving those vital tasks to food companies themselves, with disastrous results.”

A recently uncovered Treasury Board of Canada report forecasts that federal funding for food safety programs will decline by almost 30 per cent over the next three years. The report also says the government plans a “shift from full-time Canadian Food Inspection Agency meat inspection presence to an oversight role, allowing industry to implement food safety control programs and to manage key risks.”

An editorial in the current issue of the prestigious Canadian Medical Association Journal charges that Harper’s government’s “policy errors helped bring about” the listeriosis tragedy. It also states that recent changes to the government’s monitoring of processed meat products severely weakened safety standards” that are already lower than in many other countries.

“This sorry record shows Stephen Harper’s cavalier approach to Canadians’ health and safety,” Ms. May said. “How can he say he cares about families when, for ideological reasons, he has weakened food safety standards in this country? Mr. Harper shows a blatant disregard for the well-being of Canadians.

“We will get to the bottom of the errors in the government’s policies and restore vigorous inspection and enforcement in one of the federal government’s most vital responsibilities.”