Not My Prime Minister: The Harper Government and Food Safety

In March 2008 The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) was directed to quit inspecting food, and inspect company paperwork instead. By June deadly bacteria were growing in sandwich meats produced by Canada’s biggest meat processor. The death toll is 19 and rising.
In June 2008 the federal Treasury Board under Stephen Harper recommended privatizing Canada’s government laboratories. The erosion of public science is a starting place and part of a larger attack on the regulatory capacity of government.
In 2006 the federal government decided to quit publishing audit reports rating Canadian meat processing establishments in order to save money and avoid public scrutiny.
In November 2007 a Cabinet decision handed self-inspection to the operators of animal feed mills and cut back the avian influenza preparedness program. Yet bad animal feed led to the European epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalitis (mad cow disease), and in an influenza pandemic tens of thousands of Canadians could die.
According to current Treasury Board of Canada forecasts, funding for food safety programs will have declined by almost 30% from $359 million in 2006/07 to $254 million in 2010/11 under Mr. Harper’s watch.

The Issues