The union representing scientists working for the federal government is calling for an immediate moratorium on the deregulation of food inspection in Canada.

Montreal Gazette

OTTAWA — The union representing scientists working for the federal government is calling for an immediate moratorium on the deregulation of food inspection in Canada.

The Campaign for Public Science, to be launched Monday, is also calling on the new health minister to commit to immediate reform on the decades-old Hazardous Products Act that leaves government powerless to recall unsafe consumer products.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada says swift action is needed in the wake of the listeriosis tragedy and a continuing crisis with tainted food and unsafe consumer products.

Rejean Simard, president of the institute’s applied science group and scientist at Transport Canada, said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency should learn from the same mistake made 10 years ago in railway and civil aviation, when industry was charged with policing itself.

“As a public servant and a scientist, we need to start to talk to the public. Here’s what’s happening to your science and don’t let it get away because it’s your own safety that will depend on it,” said Simard.

Things came to a head on the food-inspection file earlier this year when a scientist at the CFIA was fired after sharing with his union a classified document he found improperly posted on agency’s server outlining plans to turn over more inspections to the food industry.

The blueprint includes a plan to shift away from a “full-time presence” of veterinarians at abattoirs to an “oversight role, allowing industry to implement food safety control programs and to manage key risks,” outlined in a November, 2007 cabinet document obtained last July by Canwest News Service.

The government has already phased in a new system at meat-processing plants; the Compliance Verification System (CVS), fully phased in this past spring, resembles more of an auditing system, where government inspectors are charged with reviewing company records to monitor and verify food-safety practices rather than spending the bulk of their time on the plant floor.

The food-borne listeriosis outbreak this past summer, linked to the deaths of 20 people, was traced back to one of these federally regulated meat plants in Toronto operating under CVS.

In addition to a moratorium on self-policing, the Campaign for Public Science is calling for additional funding so government inspectors and veterinarians have the resources to do their jobs.

Meanwhile, the union wants the main tenets of the consumer product safety Act to become law as soon as possible. Former Health minister Tony Clement tabled the legislation last April, but the initiative died when the federal election was called.

The legislation included sweeping new powers to issue mandatory product recalls and empower the federal government to slap hefty fines on companies that import and sell dangerous products to Canadians.

The act also included a provision so government could disclose confidential business information without the company’s consent if there is a serious and imminent health risk. Companies would also have to report to the minister, within two days, of any adverse incidents.

The new health minister, Leona Aglukkaq, declined to reveal her plans for the product-safety legislation.

“This government remains committed to protecting consumer safety. The throne speech on Nov. 19 will lay out the legislative agenda of the government,” her office said in a statement.

© Montreal Gazette