Thursday, October 18, 2012

The Canadian Government Should Be Ashamed of Itself.

The Canadian government should be ashamed of itself - but isn't.   And the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) should be apologizing to Canadians but it appears that it won't be happening any time soon either.   Those at the helm have failed Canadians.   My dear old Dad used to have a saying about such things that went something like this: "Some people don't have enough shame for everything."  It would appear that he was right.  History it would seem, has taught no lesson to the present Canadian government.   But history is far from forgotten in the minds of those poisoned in the Walkton E Coli and the Maple Leaf Listeriosis outbreak in more recent years - and that's what makes this recent E Coli finding at the XL plant so repugnant to Canadians.

The recent contaminated meat recall of XL Foods products has once again rocked this nation's faith in Canada' s food supply.   In the wake of the lay-off notice for 2000 of its workers this week - and no statements from either the company or the Canadian government to inform Canadians as to what exactly is going on, the Canadian public is left to fill in the blanks on their own.  In our own household we predicted two days ago that XL foods would not be re-opening its doors - at least not without a major re-incarnation.

Reports from CTV's Robert Fife on Canada AM this morning give even more evidence of a bad situation run amok - a situation neglected by management for years, and seemingly avoided by Canada's Food Inspection Agency.

Numerous Deficiencies in the XL plant's safety and hygiene protocols have now been discovered - meat hooks that were not cleaned for an unspecified period of time, drippings of blood accumulating on market-ready meat, obvious major routes of access for vermin left un-remediated - all point to management neglect and obvious public risk.  
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But more disturbing still for many Canadians is the fact that American Inspectors were the first to raise the red flag instead of Canada's own CFIA.   It appears that on Sept. 04 E Coli was discovered and about six days laters the Americans stopped shipments of XL Meats into America.  It appears that the Americans have a habit of checking on food sources beyond their own borders from time to time and the Americans gave us the first "heads up" so to speak.  But while the American Authorities were not satisfied to ship XL meat to American dinner plates,  the Canadians were - and proceeded to do so for aproximately another two weeks before forcing the closing of the XL plant and ordering the recall of product in Canada.   In that period of time a number of Canadians were sickened by the meat.

Our Canadian Government's response to the crisis was to place the Federal Minister of Agriculture on the hotseat to explain how the crisis happened on national T.V.  But, Alas, No!   If you've been keeping tabs on this situation you'll know that  this never happened.   Instead, Canada's Agriculture Minister was camera shy and sent his Deputy into the fray.  The Deputy was so junior for the task that he 'flubbed up'.  In his earnest desire to assure the Canadian public of the safety of the food on their plates, he stated in his on camera interview that there were 20% more  meat inspectors at the XL plant than other plants.  This statement of course only left the Canadian public to wonder how Canada's food supply could become contaminated with so many extra CFIA Food Inspectors on the job.  His comments only increased concerns for Canadians who were now left to wonder how contaminated meat could get past increased oversight and inspections measures. 

The Americans deserve Kudos for being the first to act to remove XL meats from consumer shelves and setting the example to alert the Canadian Authorities as to the gravity of the problem.  It's unfortunate that our Canadian Authorities couldn't see fit to act sooner to protect the public health.  We owe a debt of gratitude to our Friends and Neighbours in America and maybe, some of us even our lives.

It has now been announced that a Brazilian concern is poised to possibly buy out the troubled XL plant in Brook, Alberta - and none too soon.   I'm sure many Canadians are wiping their brows in relief that an experienced meat producing country may well take over.  It does however, make Canada look  like a third world country.   Let's face it - it was the stop shipment order from the Americans that gave pause on the situation and now a company in another foreign country is poised to clean up the mess and take leadership.  It's a good thing someone somewhere is willing to take a Leadership role in all of this since a pall of silence seems to have fallen on the Canada's Leadership.

It seems XL Foods management is finally washing something - "their hands" - of the entire situation.

To my mind there is only one thing left to be investigated - and that's the CFIA - because all of this happened  "On THEIR Watch".

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