Instead, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has built a reputation of quiet competence. His reputation as a no-nonsense economist who can ably steer the ship of state has gone relatively unchallenged.
At least until last week.
One of the basic responsibilities of government is to protect its citizens. That means, the safety of whatever we eat and drink has to be overseen by those whose only concern is our health and well being.
Just ask former Ontario premier Mike Harris what role the Walkerton water scandal played in his ultimate demise.
Not only has the tainted meat scandal written the obituary for Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, it definitely challenges the narrative of the Harper government as a quietly competent team whose meat and potatoes has been their management ability.
Like Walkerton, the XL Foods recall could mark a turning point in public attitudes. The largest meat recall in Canadian history happened following a series of budget cuts designed to rein in spending.
At first, Harris blamed the Walkerton E. coli water contamination on everyone else. But in the end, a public inquiry pointed to his cuts as a contributing factor to the death of seven people.
Like Harris, Harper got elected on the promise to reduce spending and diminish the role of government in the lives of ordinary citizens.
The Prime Minister certainly did not seek to inspire us with a national or international vision. On the contrary, his mantra was to reduce the role of interfering governments in our daily lives.
Let’s face it. Most Canadians don’t lie awake nights worrying about Canada’s international reputation.
Citizens are busy, and expect governments to take the lead in managing the economy and protecting the health and safety of all. Government cuts and public service reductions sell well in most parts of the country until we witness the real fallout from reduced government oversight. Canadians expect governments to guarantee that food we buy in our grocery stores is safe to eat.
And when it is not, political heads should roll.
Mistake No. 1: missing in action in the Nation’s Capital, the agriculture minister committed the cardinal sin of political damage control. He hid.
The first sign of a problem occurred on Sept. 4, when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency identified E. coli in beef production lines and on the very same day, American officials blocked the importation of tainted Canadian beef into their country.
It took Ritz almost a month to even speak publicly about the issue. When he did emerge from underground, his first statement was to the North Battleford Rotary Club where he downplayed the problem. “Is there an epidemic of E. coli outbreaks? Turns out there’s not.”
A minister skewered four years ago for joking about a major listeriosis outbreak as “like a death by a thousand cold cuts” appears to have learned little from previous verbal faux pas.
You can rest assured that his Rotary Club strategy was well-vetted by the Prime Minister’s Office. Ritz’ public reassurance provided little comfort to worried consumers who have pulled beef from their supper tables while awaiting more information about the nature and extent of the outbreak.
As Canadians stop buying, Ritz’s own constituency of cattle producers is obviously feeling the pinch.
The agriculture minister’s laissez-faire approach has been consistent with an obvious government strategy to lie low and blame the bureaucracy.
The blame game constituted mistake No. 2. When an inspector failed to detect the presence of cattle feces, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had some explaining to do.
That explanation should have been delivered to Health Canada, the department with the responsibility to monitor the effectiveness of the CFIA’s food safety activities.
Once the tainted meat was stopped at the American border, it was up to the ministers of Health and Agriculture to roll up their sleeves and give political direction.
Instead, they continued to sanction production activity until multiple recalls ground the whole process to a halt.
Leona Aglukkaq, responsible for CFIA oversight, was nowhere and questions in the House of Commons were punted to the minister of National Defence.
The bizarre behaviour at last week’s Alberta press conference further underscored government incompetence. Why cut off questions at a press conference Ritz convened? No doubt, the auditor general will get to the meat of the matter.
Ritz finally showed up in the House on Thursday to answer questions in Question Period after holding a press conference in Ottawa with CFIA officials, but it was too little too late.
What could have been dealt with in an open, informed, and transparent manner has now morphed into a national crisis of fearful consumers and paralysed producers.
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: SHEILA COPPS
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