CANADIAN POLITICS:

MORE SERVICES ON THE BLOCK IF HARPER WINS:

While, given the polls, it is becoming exceedingly doubtful that the Harper Conservatives will win a majority mandate (though it is still possible) one should look at what Sneaky Stevie has been able to "accomplish" with a minority. It is doubtful that even the present economic crisis will persuade the Conservatives to abandon their George Bush-like commitment to the same policies that brought the world's economy to its present state. Here's an article from the Public Values.Ca website about how the recent listeria outbreak is merely the "tip of the iceberg" in terms of what Harper's goals are.

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CFIA problems are the tip of the privatization iceberg - food inspector Bob Kingston:
Seventeen other departments could face potentially deadly cuts like CFIA did due to a pro-privatization ideology.
OTTAWA, October 8, 2008 — The listeriosis outbreak that has killed 20 Canadians could be "the tip of the iceberg" both in terms of food safety dangers and risks from other federal cutbacks, according to Agriculture Union President and food inspector Bob Kingston.

At the official launch announcement of PublicValues.ca, Kingston said that CFIA cutbacks, which contributed to the outbreak, were more moderate than those planned by the Conservative government for other departments.

"I'd suggest there are 17 other documents floating around just like" the one detailing CFIA cuts that biologist Luc Pomerleau was fired for releasing.

"What the Harper Conservatives are all about is deregulation and privatizing," said Kingston. "But beyond the privatizing part of it, it's the self-policing. That nonsense — that it's in the company's best interests to put out good products, so basically, why do you need regulation! If that were true, we wouldn't even be in a financial crisis."

He predicted more tragedies ahead if the federal government goes ahead with across-the-board departmental cuts. "It really is the tip of the iceberg. It's a tragedy that 20 people had to die before this government even paid attention. They still tried to bury it as an election item, saying they were going to have an inquiry."

He says the Harper government is driven by extreme pro-privatization ideology, pointing to their actions to strip the Canadian Wheat Board of its marketing powers. Giant companies have been pushing for years to take these powers away from the Board.

"Along comes the Harper government. It's the first government that's actually listened to them," said Kingston, "and blindly followed what they said. We're seeing that sector by sector. They have a belief that corporations are intrinsically good and the profit motive will always lead you to ultimately the best result... I think it's deadly, obviously, when it's acted out in real life."

He said the government is driven by "pure ideology and they tolerate no resistance." He said Harper fired agriculture minister Chuck Strahl for saying the government needed to talk to farmers after the government lost a court ruling over the Wheat Board. "Within two hours he was fired and Harper had gone on national TV and directly contradicted him. That's how Gerry Ritz got the job."

Here is an excerpted transcript of Kingston's remarks at the launch of PublicValues.ca:

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I mention this as the tip of the iceberg. I don't think that could be overstated. The whole issue around food safety and the deregulation - it's been going on for a while but it came to a head of course this summer with the listeria outbreak. Leading into it was the release of a document that outlined this government's plans for the slaughterhouses. What they have already done, in terms of the self-policing of the food industry, has taken place within the processing end of it. Their next target was the slaughter plants, where the risk is even greater.

That's the document that a member got fired for bringing to the attention of their union. That's the one you can still see on our website, that FoodSafetyFirst website. What people need to know, that was part of the strategic review at CFIA. CFIA was only one of 18 departments that was in the same boat. And CFIA was actually treated kinder by this government, believe it or not, than the other 17 departments that were being reviewed.

I'd suggest there are 17 other documents floating around just like it. And that was only year one of the strategic review initiated by the Harper government. Every year they take a quarter of the public service and they do the same analysis of their work and that means these strategic review documents are now in play for the second round of departments, and on and on it will go. They're not asking departments to justify what they do... What they're saying is, you have to identify the lowest 5 percent of what you think is your priorities. It's hard to tell that to CFIA, because of course what they deal with, everything they deal with most people would consider somewhat critical. But they had to identify their 5 percent lowest priority and reallocate funds. Treasury Board told them flat out, the Harper Treasury Board told them flat out that if they didn't it would be done for them. That's what all the departments are facing.

So it really doesn't matter whether the lowest 5 percent in a given department might be the top 5 percent in any other department. That's irrelevant. They just want to see cuts, cuts, cuts. I know they keep talking about pumping more money into it, but you can take a look at any year's spending plans that this government has in place and you will see the next two years always, always, without exception, are about cuts and cuts and cuts. No matter what kind of nonsense they keep saying about increasing spending.

What the Harper Conservatives are all about is deregulation and privatizing. But beyond the privatizing part of it, it's the self-policing — that nonsense that it's in the company's best interests to put out good products, so basically, why do you need regulation? If that were true, we wouldn't even be in a financial crisis.

It really is the tip of the iceberg. It's a tragedy that 20 people had to die before this government even paid attention. They still tried to bury it as an election item, saying they were going to have an inquiry...

We're doing everything we can to keep [these issues] in the public eye during the election. We hope that other people take up the issues of privatization, self-policing, etc., as well and hold these guys accountable. Because right now they are so ideologically bent toward this stuff it is scary. There's no rhyme or reason. There's no rational discussions you can have with these folks.

Take the Canadian Wheat Board, for example. They say they consult with farmers. Well, the Minister had a meeting here in Ottawa where he had what he considered industry representatives. It was something called Western Canada Barley Growers Association. When they had to file documents in court in Calgary, when the farmers took Harper to court, this Western Canada Barley Growers Association had about 140 something members and most of them were corporations, not even growers. And the 10,000 barley growers that are out in the west — I don't think would honestly feel this is a true representation of their interests.
But the National Farmers Union, which does represent about 10,000 members, were totally shut out of the meeting. They even showed up in town here and asked to attend, and it was a secret meeting. They wouldn't tell them where the address was. So this is the way Harper's government has been running. I mean, they're locked onto an ideological path and no amount of logic seems to sway them. So it's only public outcry that I think will eventually do the trick, and launching a site like this, I'm hoping, will help get us there.

We have legislation in place since 1912 - the Grain Act - to protect small farmers in this country and basically a way of life and to oversee a system where everybody could profitably exist. It was put in place, as I said, specifically to protect small producers from large international companies.

The companies we're talking about, Cargill, Dreyfus, etc., they're the largest private companies on the planet. Between a handful of them they control about 80 percent of the world's food supply. They have been lobbying successive governments since 1912 to change that act and get rid of it, because it protected farmers from them. And they couldn't control the farmers in Canada the way they do in many other countries.

Along comes the Harper government. It's the first government that's actually listened to them, and blindly followed what they said. We're seeing that sector by sector. They have a belief that corporations are intrinsically good and the profit motive will always lead you to ultimately the best result...

That seems to follow every decision they make with respect to deregulation — the profit motive will eventually get us to some perfect place. I think it's deadly, obviously, when it's acted out in real life and they just don't seem to get it. But we're convinced it's pure ideology and they tolerate no resistance.

As a matter of fact, when they lost their first court case in Calgary, before they appealed it in Winnipeg — this is when the farmers all took them to court when they tried to deconstruct the Wheat Board — and the courts actually said, this organization belongs to farmers. You need to talk to farmers. One of his ministers at the time, Chuck Strahl, was asked: what does this court case mean? And he said, maybe it means we need to talk to farmers. Within two hours he was fired and Harper had gone on national TV and directly contradicted him. We're not talking to farmers, period.

And that's how Gerry Ritz got the job. I mean, this guy will tolerate no opposition... I've been around for a while and I've never seen a leader of this country so ideologically bent in one direction.
Links and sources

Food Safety First website

CONSUMER AFFAIRS:

LISTERIOSIS ROUND 2:

Since September 17th the Maple Leaf Foods plant at the centre of the recent listeriosis outbreak in Canada has been reopened, and it is now processing meats even though the release of the product has still not been authorized. In the meantime, two days ago, the CFIA has also announced a recall of Dunn's Famous brand smoked meats distributed to Costco stores in Québec, Ottawa and the Atlantic provinces.

Today,however, it came to light that intensive testing has shown that foods from the Maple Leaf plant are still occasionally contaminated by Listeria. See the article below from today's Globe and Mail.

Company spokesman Michael McCain rushed to put a positive spin on matters. You can see the basic story of his reply in an article from the Windsor Star today. The main thrust of his argument is that "listeria is everywhere", and that we inevitably consume the bacteria everyday. I guess this means that we shouldn't worry about it if it appears in his plant. The good gentleman made some rather "weaselly" comparisons to the positive rate in the Maple Leaf plant and other surveys in Canada and the USA where sampling was done at the point of sale. In actual fact US law requires that there be no listeria at the point of production, as already pointed out on this blog. Sampling days later after transport and the opportunity for the bacteria to multiply would inevitably lead to a higher positive rate. What McCain is actually saying is that his company should be allowed to slip back into a less intensive regime of testing because somehow Listeria is ubiquitous. Molly would suggest that the opposite is true, that this "trial run" shows that the Maple Leaf plant should remain under permanent high levels of testing and supervision. They have proven, after all, that they cannot achieve the standards required , and achieved,across the border, and this says that the only way to assure the safety of their product is to keep the present testing regime. Perhaps make it even tighter.

The report of McCain's press release on the radio today was even more bizarre than what was reported in the Windsor Star. Molly will try and search down the full text, in the hopes it hasn't been altered by after the fact proof-reading. Really, the proof-reading should have been done before issuing the statement. There were some real howlers there. Is Listeria really "the oldest organism on Earth" ? Cough,cough !. Then there was the Maoesque statement that ""Listeria is benign to the masses". Glad to hear that Chairman McCain, and assuredly it isn't the "primary contradiction". Wellllllll, I guess the "masses" don't include AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients, diabetics, old people, pregnant women, and newborn babies. The fate of such "running dogs" shouldn't impede the great and glorious march to profitability of the 'Peoples' Maple Leaf Party' , relying on Mao TseCain Thought. Wow, I love it.

Anyways, here's the article from the Globe and Mail. Do check in at the Food Safety First website for breaking news on this front as it develops.

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Listeriosis bacteria found at Toronto plant:
Four new positive tests confirmed in samples of meat at reopened Maple Leaf site
BILL CURRY
October 9, 2008
OTTAWA -- Four new positive tests for listeriosis have been confirmed in samples of meat at the Maple Leaf plant at the centre of the outbreak that has left 20 Canadians dead.

The plant was allowed to reopen on Sept. 17, but no product has so far been allowed to enter the market.

Yesterday federal officials from the Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council Office and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency met to discuss the new findings that the bacteria is still present in the plant.

Since the plant resumed production, there have been 2,700 product samples and four positive test results for Listeria monocytogenes.

Paul Mayers, associate vice-president of the CFIA, confirmed the results in a telephone interview with The Globe and Mail.

"We've just received results related to these four positives," Mr. Mayers said. "The plant is operating. The product isn't reaching the marketplace.

"We will, with Health Canada, conduct an assessment to assess what these findings might mean in terms of the ongoing activities in the plant and whether any additional measures would be necessary in relation to product from that plant. Of course, that assessment has not yet been conducted."

He said CFIA and Health Canada will now do a full assessment and evaluation of the positive findings.

Mr. Mayers confirmed that the CFIA informed both the Privy Council Office and the PMO about the positive findings and said both agencies are regularly in the loop on new developments related to listeria.

The findings, which were posted last night on the CFIA's website in the wake of inquiries from The Globe, come as the public service is under orders not to create waves during the federal election campaign.

Bob Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union representing CFIA inspectors, said he was "flabbergasted" by the positive tests, given the scrutiny the plant is under. "It's mind-boggling. They're cleaning up their place with the whole world watching and they still don't get it right?"
The union leader said the findings underscore his organization's campaign to block efforts to transfer certain food safety responsibilities to industry.

The most recent government announcement related to listeriosis was a recall issued Tuesday by CFIA, warning the public not to eat certain Dunn's Famous brand smoked meat pouches that were distributed to Costco in Quebec, Ottawa and the Atlantic provinces.

To date, there have been 20 deaths where listeriosis was the underlying or contributing cause, another three deaths where listeriosis was present and a further six deaths in Ontario that are still under investigation.

The latest development comes as the outbreak has already become an issue in the federal election campaign. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was forced to apologize earlier in the campaign for joking about the issue during an internal government conference call. In that call, Mr. Ritz reportedly said the government was suffering a death by a thousand cuts, "or should I say cold cuts."

Since the outbreak began, there have also been numerous news media reports based on government documents either leaked to the news media or obtained through access to information requests showing concern had been expressed internally about the quality of food safety in Canada.

On Sept. 6, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced an independent investigation into the listeria outbreak, which traced back to a Maple Leaf meat plant in Toronto. The government has yet to name the head of the investigation, but has released terms of reference.

The investigation will not be allowed to come to conclusions regarding the civil or criminal liability of any person or organization.