Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Agriculture Union calls for swift implementation of House of Commons Agriculture Committee recommendations and call for inquiry into CFIA actions over listeriosis

Chalk up another victory for food safety and the influence of the Agriculture Union with federal politicians.

In an eagerly-awaited report, issued June 18, the House of Commons Agriculture Committee called for a number of measures to tighten up the country�s food system, including a public inquiry into the response of both the Conservative government and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency into last year�s listeriosis crisis.

What follows is a CBC report — one of the first media reactions — to the Committee�s report. As can be seen, our union is already calling for swift implementation of the Committee recommendations:

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Under threat that the opposition parties would vote to reject the bill from the agenda, the Government chose to pull Bill C-13 themselves.

Instead of helping Canada�s grain producers in these troubled economic times, the amendments to the Canada Grain Act in Bill C-13 would:

• Shift the purpose of the Grain Act away from protecting producer interests
• Expose producers to financial harm by eliminating the requirement for grain buyers to post security bonds
• Dismantle the Grain Appeals Tribunal which protects producers from unscrupulous behaviour on the part of grain companies
• Eliminate Commission inspection services that independently determine the quality and quantity of grain grown by individual farmers and introduce new safety concerns

Now that the government has withdrawn the bill, it seems unlikely the government will try again without making at least some changes to improve it.

Congratulations to all those who have sent messages to your MP, the Minister of Agriculture and the Prime Minister. Your action has made a huge difference!!

Writing a newspaper column is all about words, obviously. If you write regularly, you learn something about the power words can have to influence people. Politicians know this very well, as does anyone who uses the media to get out a message. When politicians communicate with the public, it is often disrespectfully called “spin”. This means taking a situation or event and twisting the message so it communicates what you want it to communicate. We used to call it propaganda, but we only seem to use that word now to refer to things done in other countries. Tin-pot dictators use propaganda. Leaders of upstanding democratic countries use spin.

Some politicians are better at this than others. Some are smooth, some are clumsy. Some mix their spin with half-truths and outright fabrications. Gerry Ritz would fall into this category. He doesn’t seem to let the facts get in the way of the issues.

His attempts to defend the changes he is proposing to the Canada Grain Act and hence the Canadian Grain Commission show once again that Gerry went to the Goebbels School of Communication.

Changes to the Canadian Grain Commission have been on the agenda of the Harper government for some time. Bill C-39 was introduced in December, 2007, but died on the order paper when Parliament ended with the election call. Bill C-13, introduced in late February, appears identical to C-39. It calls for an end to mandatory inward weighing and inspection at port, changes the CGC mandate away from its focus on protecting producers and eliminates the need for grain companies to post security with the CGC to cover potential defaults on payments.

• Fight Bill C-13 – Join the campaign to protect producer interests and the Canadian Grain Commission.

These proposals have come under scrutiny from many quarters. Removing the bonding requirement for grain companies has raised red flags with producers, especially in the current unstable economic environment. In defending his legislation, Ritz has played fast and easy with the truth. In an interview with a reporter from Golden West Radio in Altona, Manitoba, Ritz declared that the best that has ever been paid out through the Payment Security Program was 30 cents on the dollar. Because of this, he can easily declare the program is not working.

The only trouble is, he’s wrong. The Payment Security Program has actually been quite successful. Over the last ten years, the CGC has issued payments to producers in nine cases of default by grain companies. In six of these, the payment was 100 % of claims. In one, it was 99.8 %. In one, the bankruptcy of Naber Seeds in 2002, payout reached 51.4 % of claims and in the case of Venture Seeds Ltd in 2004, payment was just 28 % of claims. Total payments from the bonding required by the CGC were $4,503,000 to 343 producers, for an average of $13,127 per claimant. The total payouts were actually 77.15 % of claims, not 30 % as Ritz claimed.

In the interview with the Golden West reporter, Ritz also claimed that this protection would only be removed when something better was in place. Again, this is not true. Bill C-13 removes the bonding requirement. Full stop. It does not propose any alternatives and no viable alternatives are on the table.
Ritz went on to claim that the CGC has been under a moratorium for more than a decade (he was likely referring to a moratorium on fee increases) and as a result it is not offering the services it could be. When I consulted an official at the CGC he told me he was not aware of any new services that would be facilitated by C-13. In fact, the recent decision by the CGC to end optional inspection at inland terminals for grain bound for the U.S. came about because the Minister has ordered the CGC to focus on its mandate, and not to perform optional services. The mandate is found in the act and C-13 diminishes, not expands the mandate. The services the Minister is referring to appear to exist only in the Minister’s head.

I want to be charitable to Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz. He has a reputation for saying things to reporters that, to put it kindly, are creative. I don’t think he lies intentionally, as in his claim that payouts through the CGC Payment Security Program have never reached 30 %. But if the Minister doesn’t know the facts of the situation, if he hasn’t figured out that passing C-13 ends payment security, that there is no alternative waiting in the wings, where does he get his information? If the aides responsible for briefing him are that ignorant of the facts, he should find some new ones. If the Minister himself follows the industry so little that he doesn’t remember any of the bankruptcy cases but one, what is he doing in the position?

So, where does Gerry get his information? The Grain Growers of Canada might be one source. In a February 1, 2008 letter to Ritz, the group claimed that “The termination of bonding system, although controversial, will ultimately be a step in the right direction as the bonds to date have not provided proper coverage anyway.” Perhaps Ritz took this vague bit of misinformation and simply applied his creative juices. He should try to hang with a better informed class of people.

Paul Beingessner beingessner@sasktel.net

Winnipeg � If elected, a federal Conservative government plans to stop delivering provincial meat inspection programs in Manitoba leaving local consumers exposed to the risk of unsafe meat.

The plan is revealed in a secret Treasury Board of Canada decision record, dated May 6, 2008, documenting the acceptance of a proposal concerning �Provincial Meat Slaughter Establishments (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia)� which calls for the �elimination of federal delivery of provincial meat inspection programs.�

�Meat produced in provincially registered facilities in Manitoba would not be inspected by anyone under this plan,� says Bob Kingston, President of the Agriculture Union � Public Service Alliance of Canada, which has launched www.foodsafetyfirst.ca, a tool for voters to email their local candidates during the federal election to urge them to make a commitment to food safety. The campaign is being organized jointly with the the Professional Institute of the Public Service Canada.

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Toronto � Federal candidates across the country are being asked to make a Commitment to Food Safety as part of a national campaign launched in Toronto this morning.

�The outbreaks of listeriosis due to tainted food products have shaken the country�s confidence in our food protection system. The system is broken and needs fixing,� says Patty Ducharme, Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

The campaign features a website � www.foodsafetyfirst.ca � which allows visitors to send a message to ask local candidates to take make a Commitment to Food Safety, a four-point action plan to fix the system. Radio, print and online ads will be used during the federal election to spread the word about the campaign, as will events across the country.

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PSAC members were among 1300 people in Victoria who rallied March 29th to encourage the government to ban the sale raw logs and save old growth forests.

Members in Victoria at the Government Street Service Canada office also wore black on payday in support of their bargaining teams.

Continuing with the Island theme, the Southern Vancouver Island Area Council met to discuss the resolutions and reports going forward to the Regional Convention.

And in Abbotsrford, The Fraser Valley Area Council held a pre-convention meeting on April 10. The meeting was attended by both convention delegates and non-delegates. The participants conducted a comprehensive review of the convention resolutions and discussed basic convention practices, strategies and procedures. The Fraser Valley Area Council also recognized the many years of service provided by the soon to be retired Chuck Leech of USGE Local 20054 – Matsqui Institution. Cheers Chuck!

Ottawa – Former Reform MP Elwin Hermanson who was appointed chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission only weeks ago is advocating in favour of a controversial bill that has never been endorsed by Parliament.

Hermanson authored a strongly worded opinion article in favour of amendments to the Canada Grain Act in Bill C-39 which was published in the February 7th edition of The Western Producer. Mr. Hermanson declares in his opinion article: “As chief commissioner of the CGC, I strongly support this legislation… .”

• Oppose amendments to Canada Grain Act: Fax your MP

The bill would gut or kill several services and regulatory oversight activities of the Canadian Grain Commission, leaving producers newly disadvantaged in their dealings with grain companies and undermining the quality and food safety assurance programs Canada’s international reputation for excellence are built upon.

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Ottawa – Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz should retract a gag order which threatens Canadian Grain Commission employees who speak out against his government’s legislative proposal to gut the Commission, according to the Agriculture Union – PSAC which represents the employees.

On December 21^st, the Canadian Grain Commission issued a memo to employees forbidding them to publicly criticize Bill C-39, the government’s proposal to cripple the Commission.

“We hope the Minister will disassociate himself from the Commission’s intimidation and assure employees they are free to express their opinion,” said Bob Kingston, National Vice-President of the Agriculture Union – PSAC.

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(Ottawa) The federal government should withdraw amendments to the Grain Act in Bill C-39 because it will hurt grain producers and it ignores the unanimous advice from an all-party Commons committee, according to the Agriculture Union – PSAC.

• Fax your MP – Oppose the amendments to the Grain Act!

The Conservative government’s proposed legislation will gut the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), the independent body that provides essential services to grain producers. Bill C-39 will be debated for the first time in Parliament today.

The legislation ignores the recommendation of an all–party committee by immediately and aggressively cutting the CGC’s regulatory responsibilities and services. After extensive study, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture recommended that the Commission receive increased funding to ensure that the essential services it offers to grain producers can be sustained.

“Instead of heeding the advice of politicians from all parties, the Conservative government is putting the future of farmers and of all Canadians who benefit from the grain trade at risk. This bill should be withdrawn and fixed before it is debated in Parliament,” said Bob Kingston, Executive Vice President of Agricultural Union – PSAC.

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The Agriculture Union is formulating a campaign against the politically-motivated job cuts at the Canadian Grain Commission.

There’s more ideology than common sense behind the December 13 tabling of Bill C-39, An Act to Amend the Canada Grain Act, in the House of Commons. If enacted, it would change the Commission’s mandate and gut inward inspection, inward weighing and CGC’s security program.

All this is being done by the Conservatives to pander to their base of ‘free market’ farmers who want little or no government regulation impeding their ability to sell their grain on the open market – when it suits them.

Given such a blatantly political agenda, our Union is preparing to fight political fire with fire.

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An Invitation to Agriculture Union Component members of PSAC …

• AAFC
• PSC
• DND
• CGC
• CFIA
• Para-Mutuel Agency
• CBSA

Come celebrate our “Harmony in Diversity” event during National Public Service Week. Bring a dish from your heritage and participate in our festivities and awareness programs! Please RSVP by email or phone (778) 230-3987 to to Jennie Chu, BC Equal Opportunity Rep.

• Location: 4th floor, 4321 Still Creek Drive, Burnaby BC
• Time: 10 am to 2 pm on Wed., June 14th, 2006

Download the Agriculture Union Harmony in Diversity event poster here. (pdf)