Posts tagged Sheila Weatherill
Carole Swan resigns
Jun 21st, 2011
Posted by Jim Thompson in News Release
Ottawa (June 21, 2011) — Canadian Food Inspection Agency President Carole Swan is stepping down at the end of June, a full year ahead of the end of her appointment. “We wish Carole well. She had a tough job to do, made more difficult by chronic under funding, a reality that has prevented the CFIA [...]
No audit of meat plant inspectors done: Ritz
Nov 18th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Sarah Schmidt, PostMedia News Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Thursday conceded the government has not conducted an external audit to determine how many inspectors are needed to police Canada’s meat plants. [More...]
CFIA deflects food safety criticisms
Nov 15th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Barry Wilson, The Western Producer Senior government officials responsible for food safety and inspection have a message: the system has never been better. [More...]
Food safety watchdog still unclear on numbers
Nov 5th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Joanna Smith, The Toronto Star The federal food safety watchdog is still unable to say how many full-time inspectors work in ready-to-eat meat plants more than two years after a deadly nationwide outbreak of listeriosis traced to tainted deli meats. [More...]
Feds say food system safe, inspectors beg to differ
Nov 5th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Laura Payton, QMi Agency Government experts say Canada’s food system is one of the safest in the world, but the union representing food agency inspectors says that’s not true. [More...]
Canada still lacking inspectors at meat plants: CFIA
Nov 5th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Sarah Schmidt, PostMedia News The federal government doesn’t have enough inspectors at plants that make ready-to-eat meat to properly police the high-risk operations — and the situation won’t be rectified until next spring, according to internal staffing projections released to Postmedia News. [More...]
Government spins food safety
Nov 3rd, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in News Release
Ottawa (November 4, 2010) The federal government has failed to meet some of the most important recommendations for reform of Canada’s food inspection system made in the wake of the Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis disaster, in spite of claims to the contrary, according to the federal food inspectors’ union. The Agriculture Union – PSAC leveled [...]
New internal CFIA documents show meat inspection remains dangerously inadequate
Oct 25th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Briefing Note
Many of the shortcomings that contributed to the Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis disaster two years ago continue to plague the Canadian meat inspection system today, according to a trio of assessments of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s meat hygiene program quietly released last week. The government’s attempt to obscure this conclusion through a quiet release [...]
CFIA still moving on Listeria recommendations
Oct 25th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By CBC News The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has made some changes to improve its monitoring of meatpacking plants but many of the recommendations made in the wake of the 2008 listeriosis outbreak that killed 23 people have yet to be implemented. [More...]
Union says food inspection still falls short two years after listeriosis
Oct 25th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By The Canadian Press The Harper government says it’s making “considerable progress” implementing recommendations to prevent another deadly outbreak of listeriosis, but the union representing food inspectors isn’t buying it. [More...]
Meat inspection remains dangerously inadequate – Shameful Government spin seeks to hide the facts
Oct 22nd, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in News Release
Ottawa (22 October, 2010) – Many of the shortcomings that contributed to the Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis disaster two years ago continue to plague the Canadian meat inspection system today, according to a new assessment of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s meat hygiene program released today. The internal assessment found the number of meat inspectors [...]
How effective is Canada’s meat-inspection system? Insiders say Canada’s meat-inspection system isn’t keeping consumers safe from food-borne illnesses.
Oct 22nd, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Alex Roslin, Georgia Straight At the end of a gravel road 20 kilometres east of Fort St. John, Arlene Laughren’s house used to be her little piece of heaven. Now it’s like a prison. [More...]
Immediate action on food safety needs to be taken
Apr 21st, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By KIRSTY DUNCAN, CAROLYN BENNETT AND WAYNE EASTER Owen Sound Sun Times Canadians have been fed a new vocabulary by the federal government: “global synchronized economic downturn,” “recalibration,” and “listeria outbreak.” [More...]
Minister defends food inspection system
Mar 17th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz defended Canada’s food-safety system yesterday after internal records surfaced showing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is scrambling to maintain an increased presence at meat processing plants to adhere to American food-safety standards. [More...]
U.S. had to force Canada to beef up meat inspections: union
Mar 17th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
The Canadian Press The union representing the country’s food inspectors says Canada increased its meat-plant inspection schedule only after complaints from the United States. [More...]
Questions raised about gap in food inspection standards
Mar 17th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Gloria Galloway, Globe and Mail As investigators probe an unusual number of listeriosis cases in Ontario this year alongside a new tainted-meat recall, food inspectors have raised fresh questions about gaps between Canadian and U.S. food safety regimes. [More...]
U.S. regulations forcing more meat inspections in Canada
Mar 17th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is scrambling to maintain an increased presence at dozens of large meat-processing plants after auditors from the United States Department of Agriculture found inspections were too infrequent to meet U.S. food-safety standards, newly released internal records show. [More...]
Listeriosis cases linked to deli meat
Mar 13th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service Ontario’s chief medical officer confirmed Friday a genetic match between listeriosis cases and contaminated deli meat produced at a federally regulated meat plant — the first match since Canada was rocked in the summer of 2008 with a deadly outbreak. [More...]
Video: Chris Olsen on Maple Leaf recall
Mar 10th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
CTV British Columbia
Feeling queasy
Feb 10th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
Ottawa Citizen Editorial It has been 18 months since 22 Canadians died after eating tainted meat and, despite government assurances that food safety systems are more effective than ever, consumers ought to be skeptical. [More...]
Government gets failing grade on food safety
Jan 28th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Christina Spencer, Parliamentary Bureau SUN News Service OTTAWA — The union representing federal meat inspectors has given the government a failing grade for moving too slowly to boost food safety since the listeriosis outbreak of 2008 that killed at least 22 people. [More]
Food inspection agency hasn’t acted on safety recommendations: report
Jan 27th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service OTTAWA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Wednesday received a failing grade from its own meat inspectors for not acting on the “vast majority” of recommendations made six months ago to improve food safety. [More]
Federal Government gets failing grade on food safety
Jan 27th, 2010
Posted by Jim Thompson in News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ottawa – Inaction on food safety has earned the federal government a failing grade six months after the Prime Minister’s special investigator Sheila Weatherill tabled recommendations on how to prevent a repeat of the Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis outbreak which killed 22 people and sickened many more. A mid-term report card on [...]
Independence of food safety probe questioned
Nov 12th, 2009
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
By: Sarah Schmidt, Vancouver Sun OTTAWA — The federal government has appointed the top bureaucrat at Agriculture Canada to lead Ottawa’s overhaul of food safety after an investigation into last year’s deadly listeriosis outbreak called for an independent expert to direct the effort. Sheila Weatherill zeroed in on a “vacuum in senior leadership” among government [...]
Report on the listeriosis outbreak released – 57 recommendations made
Jul 22nd, 2009
Posted by Jim Thompson in Media Story
Food safety investigation falls short
Jul 21st, 2009
Posted by Jim Thompson in News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Inspector shortage compromising food safety Ottawa – Many of Sheila Weatherill’s recommendations make a constructive and valuable contribution to improving the safety of food in Canada and should be implemented immediately, even though it appears that the CFIA and others in government have either withheld information or misled her, according to the [...]
