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 figures for 2012-14 lay out $21.1 million in cuts to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) food safety program. The drop in funds is linked to the end of a beefed up inspection program initiated in the wake of the listeria contamination at Maple Leaf Foods that killed 23 Canadians in 2008.

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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 2014 — a move that a B.C. Ministry of Health spokeswoman told The Tyee would be “more expensive” for the province.

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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 Inspection Agency said it expects to pull back its food safety program spending from $351.5 million in 2011-12 to $330.4 million in 2013-14.

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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 hardest.

“Make no mistake that food safety costs money, but less safety can cost a lot more, but in terms of money and human suffering,” union head Bob Kingston said Monday.

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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 will sunset for listeriosis, and for increased frequency of food inspection in meat processing establishments” beginning in the next fiscal year.

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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 plant in 2008 killed 23 people.

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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 money, but less safety can cost a lot more — both in terms of money and human suffering.”

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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 food inspection in meat processing establishments” at the end of the current fiscal year.

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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.