Meat Recall - & the Ag Dept.

First, here is a link to the list of meat recalls: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2008/20080819e.shtml

This comes just a few days after there were 2 hearings at the Ag Committee on a leaked document that had the Cons specifying cuts to the Food Inspection Agency.

For more info you can go here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080821.RECALLOTTAWA21/TPStory/TPNational/Politics/

and here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080820.wmeatrecall0820/BNStory/National/home?cid=al_gam_mostview

This document was so-called "leaked" by scientist & food safety inspector Luc Pomerleau, who actually brought it to the attention of his union boss. The document had been left on the CFIA's computer network that many people had access too. M. Pomerleau was subsequently fired from his job for his action. Here is a link to more on that: http://www.canadians.org/action/2008/28-Jul-08.html

Last week at the hearings the opposition was asking to see the document as it still has not been released. And it still hasn't.
You can read about the 2 hearings at Kady O'Malley's (ITQ) Liveblogging the events.
Meeting 1: http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/08/18/liveblogging-the-agriculture-committee-good-things-grow-in-ontario-and-were-hoping-it-stays-that-way/
Meeting 2: http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/08/19/liveblogging-the-agriculture-committee-we-join-this-three-way-stare-down-between-the-union-the-government-and-the-opposition-already-in-progress/
They both make for interesting reading, for some it may be boring, but it's just another look at how the disruptive Cons work.

After the horrifying events that happened in Walkerton, ON. under the cuts to the Food Inspection Agency here under the Mike Harris govt., it just re-inforces the danger of making cuts on the federal level as well.
And in Steve's cabinet are 3 Ministers who were also ministers at that time in Harris's govt.: Jim Flaherty, John Baird, & Tony Clement. This is like deja vu all over again.

In the next election, which will be happening soon according to Steve's threats of one, it is time to demolish the Cons before they demolish us.

Update: There are now more than 200 meat recalls. Here is the updated list: http://files.newswire.ca/464/RecallList.pdf

Another update: Here is an interesting article on the changes that the govt. made to the CFIA. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080827.wmeat27/BNStory/National/home

Now these changes have not yet been made public nor made available to the opposition. Done in secret AGAIN. Here is one quote from the article:

"A leaked cabinet document that outlined plans for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to give the food industry a greater role in the inspection process raised the ire of opposition politicians last week.
However, some of the plans have been in place since March 31, according to a CFIA manager and an official from the union that represents the federal inspectors."

So some of these changes have ALREADY been implemented without anyone knowing - other than the govt. & the CFIA. There is something very, very wrong with this "behind-closed-doors" attitude of the Con govt. & this is only one area where changes are being slowly being revealed.