News - September 2009         Previous Month         Following Month

The headlines for last month's news items are listed immediately below. Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article.

Announced addition of inspection staff

welcomed as an ‘important step forward’

Update – AAFC EG Review

Announced addition of inspection staff welcomed as an ‘important step forward’

(Posted September 14, 2009)

The Agriculture Union has welcomed the Conservative government’s decision to implement the recommendations of the ‘Weatherill Report’ into the August 2008 listeriosis outbreak at Maple Leaf Foods. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made the announcement September 11.

National President Bob Kingston singled out the particular commitment to hire 166 food safety employees, shared between the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The number includes 70 front-line CFIA inspectors – a move Kingston called “an important step forward in restoring public confidence in the safety of Canada’s food chain.”

Last May, Kingston made a detailed presentation on the shortcomings of the food safety system to independent investigator Sheila Weatherill, the former head of health care delivery in the greater Edmonton region.

Concerns about CFIA resources were also expressed by others who made presentations to the investigator and apparently these concerns were taken seriously.

However, Kingston cautioned that the new staffing announcement, while welcome, should be seen only as a “down payment” on the ultimate findings of a third-party audit of CFIA’s resources called for by Weatherill. An all-party parliamentary committee earlier recommended a similar audit to be conducted by CFIA with our union’s co-operation. Neither of these audits has yet to get underway.

Update – AAFC EG Review

(Posted September 11, 2009)

Presentations for the Statement of Duties grievances filed by AAFC members as a result of the EG Review have been ongoing before the departmental committee for the past few months; we anticipate the process will be underway for at least the next six months.

After further discussions with the Department, and in an earnest effort to expedite a process which is a very lengthy, we have agreed to complete the presentation of grievances which only involved the issue “Acting Pay/Effective Date” and the department will release their decision on these grievances to the grievors soon after. In addition, when making future presentations on the Statement of Duties grievances, we will also provide any arguments regarding acting pay/effective date. The Department’s communique can be accessed on your Intranet.

For grievors whose presentations have already been made, we will be in touch to determine whether there is an “effective date” issue and to request written proof of the date upon which the grievor believes the duties were assigned. Upon receipt, it will be provided to the committee and will be addressed in their decision together with the arguments presented on inaccurate work descriptions.

For further information, please contact Sister Sylvia Prowse at (613) 560-4306 or prowses@psac.com or, for the Quebec file, Sylvie Rochon at rochons@psac.com.