The CFIA employed 1,727 meat inspectors as of March, 2012. Some 1,223 meat inspectors were assigned to slaughterhouses; 674 were assigned to meat processing, 495 were assigned to “ready to eat” meat processing, and 483 were assigned to “non-ready” meat inspection. The figures exceed the total because hundreds of inspectors are assigned to more than one task and counted twice.
Early on in the E. coli outbreak, Conservative MPs defended the government’s food safety record, claiming that the government had added “700 net new inspectors” since taking office in 2006.
However, the government began qualifying this figure as the outbreak advanced. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz (Battlefords-Lloydminster, Sask.) told the House of Commons on Sept. 26 that the 700 CFIA jobs included “170 dedicated to the meat lines.”
The Hill Times requested total meat inspection staffing numbers from Mr. Ritz’s office, but staff for the minister referred the question to CFIA. The CFIA confirmed that 170 meat inspectors had been added since 2006, and 71 meat inspectors were added from March 2011 to March 2012.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada’s Agriculture Union also confirmed that 170 meat inspectors were added, but said that the positions were to deal with processed meat inspection following the 2008 listeriosis outbreak.
PSAC Agriculture Union president Bob Kingston said that 100 field inspector jobs have been eliminated since the tabling of 2012 federal budget at the end of March, including 40 meat inspectors.
Mr. Kingston told The Hill Times that the number of meat inspectors has failed to keep up with increases in line speed over the past decade.
“The inspectors basically have to figure out how to handle the increased volume. They shift responsibility over to plant employees themselves, and then they have an oversight role in verifying that the plant does what it says it will. Sanitation happens to be one of the first areas that gets turned over to the plant,” Mr. Kingston explained.
The XL plant in Brooks, Alta., which was the source of the E. coli outbreak that has resulted in 12 cases of infection since it was first discovered Sept. 3, has the capacity to process 5,000 heads of cattle per day—more than 200 carcasses an hour.
“When speeds get to a certain level ... you either increase the number of inspectors, or you turn responsibilities over to the plant,” said Mr. Kingston. “We’ve done the latter and we know what the results are.”
Last week CFIA officials announced that it would assign two more inspectors to the Brooks, Alta., plant, raising the number of CFIA staff at Lakeside XL to 48.
The CFIA was first notified of the contamination by U.S. border officials on Sept. 3, but the agency did not order the plant to halt operations until Sept. 28. More than 1,800 products that originated from the plant have been recalled.
Doug O’Halloran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which represents XL workers, echoed Mr. Kingston’s concerns over the inability of inspectors to keep up with the speed of facilities in a press conference in Alberta on Oct. 10.
“We’re not complaining about CFIA inspectors—the inspectors do a good job with the tools they have. However, there are not enough inspectors. They are severely understaffed,” Mr. O’Halloran said. “XL and other companies shouldn’t be able to self-regulate.”
Mr. O’Halloran said that whistleblower protection was needed for line workers to report food safety violations, but the company rejected the request during contract negotiations.
Liberal agriculture critic Frank Valeriote (Guelph, Ont.) said that there needed to be a comprehensive audit of CFIA staff, as the 2009 Weatherill Report recommended following the 2008 listeriosis outbreak, which killed 23 people.
“[N]obody can get a handle on the numbers of actual inspectors there are at the CFIA, and what they do, what their job responsibilities are. Are they meat, are they fish, are they poultry, are they to watch over invasive species entering the country,” Mr. Valeriote said last week in an interview with The Hill Times. “They talk about 170 new inspectors, but then you find out that they were deployed to the ready-to-eat meat section, not the abattoirs of the country.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) appointed his then public health adviser, Sheila Weatherill, to conduct an independent investigation of Canada’s food inspection system in 2009. That $5.3-million report included 57 recommendations for improving Canada’s food inspection system.
Ms. Weatherill recommended that the CFIA perform a resources audit to “determine the demand on its inspection resources and the number of required inspectors.” She also recommended that the audit “include analysis as to how many plants an inspector should be responsible for and the appropriateness of rotation of inspectors.”
When Mr. Ritz appeared before the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry on June 21 to discuss Bill S-11, the Safe Food for Canadians Act, he said that the government had met all of the Weatherill recommendations.
“I am pleased to report that the Harper government has hired over 700 net new inspectors since 2006 and has addressed each of the 57 recommendations given to us by Ms. Weatherill,” Mr. Ritz told the committee.
CFIA’s annual budget has increased from $637.6-million to $723.9-million since 2006. The Conservative government had planned to reduce the agency’s budget to $560.9-million by 2008, but CFIA saw an increase in funding following the 2008 listeriosis outbreak. According to the 2012 budget, the federal government plans to reduce the CFIA’s budget by $56.1-million over the next three years.
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: CHRIS PLECASH
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