Opposition MPs have accused Canada’s Agricultural Minister of effectively abandoning his portfolio during a widespread beef recall that’s been linked to 10 E.coli-related illnesses.
A strain of the bacteria was discovered at Alberta’s XL Foods plant in early September, prompting a recall that now applies to more than 1,500 beef products.
Several opposition voices, including NDP Health Critic Libby Davies, have accused the Conservative government of being too slow to react to the discovery of E.coli at the plant in Brooks, Alta.
Speaking to CTV’s Question Period Sunday, Davies reiterated calls for the resignation of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, alleging that he’s sloughed off his responsibilities during the recall.
In recent weeks, Ritz and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have been accused of dragging their feet on several aspects of the XL situation, including: the shutdown of the plant, sharing information about the recall with the public and investigating the scope of the problem.
“(Ritz is) there representing the public interest and so is his government,” Davies said in an interview from Calgary. “They fell down on this job and it’s time for the minister to go.”
Minister Ritz declined an invitation to appear on Question Period Sunday. His parliamentary secretary Pierre Lemieux appeared instead, defending the government’s commitment to food safety.
“The CFIA has been engaged since the problem first presented itself on the fourth of September. They have been working with the company officials in order to protect the health and safety of Canadians,” he said.
Lemieux added that the CFIA has hired 700 new inspectors since 2006 -- a figure disputed by Davies.
Late Friday, the CFIA made public a list of corrective action requests against XL.
Among the problems at XL, the release stated that the company had:
- A lack of detailed documents
- Inconsistent trend analysis
- Inconsistent sampling
- Deficiencies in its monitoring program
The assessment came after several revisions to a massive beef recall, which affects retailers in Canada as well as the United States. The recall was recently expanded again to include products such as steaks, lean ground beef and sausages -- among other items.
Liberal Agriculture Critic Frank Valeriote says it took too long for the CFIA to respond to the issue.
“The CFIA had every authority, every authority, under the Meat Inspection Act to act quickly and promptly. They didn’t. We need to know why they didn’t, why it took so long,” he told Question Period.
For his part, Ritz had said that the CFIA acted “quickly and responsibly.”
