Jim Thompson

By JESSICA MURPHY, London Free Press Almost four years after a deadly listeriosis outbreak, the union representing federal food inspectors says planned budget cuts could threaten the safety of Canada’s food supply. Bob Kingston, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s Agriculture Union, warned Monday the cuts would undermine exports and consumer confidence. Government [...]

By Tom Sandborn, TheTyee.ca Is something rotten in the state of Canadian meat inspection? According to the union that represents federal food inspectors and other critics, the answer is yes. In August, the Harper government announced it would withdraw staff from inspecting plants that produce meat for local consumption in B.C., Manitoba and Saskatchewan in [...]

By Canadian Cattlemen The union representing federal food safety inspectors plans to ask Maple Leaf Foods and other processors to lobby for a reversal in proposed cuts to the federal food safety program. In its 2011-12 report on plans and priorities, a three-year expenditure plan each government department and agency must provide, the Canadian Food [...]

By CTV News The Conservative government’s plan to slash spending on food safety could put Canadians at risk of another crisis like the deadly listeriosis outbreak, says the federal meat inspectors’ union. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s latest spending plan proposes deep budget cuts, and the union says the food-safety program will be hit the [...]

By SARAH SCHMIDT, Vancouver Sun OTTAWA — The government’s plan to cut inspectors put in place to plug holes in Canada’s meat-inspection system in the aftermath of a deadly listeriosis outbreak would be a big step backwards, meat inspectors warned Monday. The plan, outlined in Canadian Food Inspection Agency funding estimates, spells out that “resources [...]

By Laura Payton, CBC News Canada’s food inspectors say they fear budget cuts could endanger food safety in Canada. Bob Kingston, the head of the Agriculture Union, raised the issue Monday morning, along with the daughter of a woman who died of listeriosis in 2008. An outbreak of the bacteria at a Maple Leaf Food [...]

By Joanna Smith, Toronto Star OTTAWA—The Conservative government is planning cuts to food safety spending that the union representing federal meat inspectors warns could expose Canadians to another outbreak of food-borne illness. “Make no mistake,” Bob Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa on Monday. “Food safety costs [...]

By GLORIA GALLOWAY, Globe and Mail The federal government plans to cut the additional inspectors who were stationed at meat plants across the country after the Maple Leaf listeriosis outbreak killed 23 Canadians in 2008. A recent report by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says “resources will sunset for listeriosis and for increased frequency of [...]

By Dan Flynn, Food Safety News At some date soon in February or March, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty may follow the tradition of putting on new shoes and walking into the House of Commons with a proposed new federal budget. Ever since it received the report of an independent inquiry into the deadly 2008 [...]

By Doug Powell, Barfblog The Canadian government has fixed food safety. They said so in a press release. [Read more...]

Source: A Channel Vancouver Island