He had nothing to offer to back up that bold claim.
He said “in fact, Economic Action Plan 2012 includes an additional $51 million
over two years to enhance food safety, building upon the $100 million in last
year's budget.”
That $51 million has been announced at least three times over the last six months and was hardly budget news.
By union reckoning, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's budget will decline by $21.5 million and 234 positions.
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents
veterinarians and the Public Service Alliance represents front-line meat
inspectors.
"Make no mistake that food safety
costs money, but less safety can cost a lot more, but in terms of money and
human suffering," Public Service Alliance union head Bob Kingston said.
The agency's 2011-12 spending plan
proposes to lower its overall budget by a total of $21.5 million and reduce
staff by 234 positions, Kingston said.
The bulk of those savings will come at
the expense of the food-safety program. The CFIA spending plan proposes a
$21.1-million cut to the food-safety program and 207 fewer staff.
But Kingston warned the cuts could go
even deeper.
Departments across the federal
government have to find ways to reduce their spending between five and 10 per
cent.
"If Ottawa proceeds with the cuts
it has already announced, plus another 10 per cent, the federal government will
be playing roulette with the health of Canadians," Kingston said by way of
a news release.
The Professional Institute has posted a
video on its website urging Canadians to lobby politicians to retain
food-inspection budgets and staff.
Somewhere in the midst of all this spin-doctoring, there might be a grain of truth. But there's no GPS to guide the public to that grain.
