Canadians need a full public inquiry into the death of 22 Canadians from last summer’s listeria outbreak and increased inspection oversight in meat plants, a parliamentary investigation has concluded.
After two months of hearings, the parliamentary food safety report also found health authorities lost precious time warning the public because they were immersed in confusion and “turf wars.”
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, who quickly dismissed calls for a public inquiry yesterday, did not respond to an interview request.
“We’ve had it for tainted blood. We had it for Walkerton. We had it for SARS. We’re obviously going to need it for listeriosis. But Parliament so far has not managed to push the Conservatives to do that,” said Amir Attaran, professor in the faculty of law and medicine at the University of Ottawa.
