Canada-Government cut back on meat inspection costs.

CANADA-GOVERNMENT CUT SPENDING ON FOOD SAFETY.

The federal agency responsible for the safety of Canada ’s food supply is cutting spending by as much as 15 per cent to pay for a fund that would cover the cost of future food emergencies, according to the union representing Canadian Food Inspection Agency workers.

The Agriculture Union says the move makes no sense and that cutbacks will increase the odds of another Canadian food crisis on par with last year’s deadly listeria outbreak.

The revelation, which the agency adamantly denies, circulated over the weekend in a briefing note from the union to MPs on a special subcommittee on food safety and the listeria outbreak.

"This will likely delay and/or cancel plans to hire additional food inspectors, reduce industry oversight and increase risk of an emergency outbreak," states the two-page note.

The subcommittee is scheduled to hear today from two key players connected to the outbreak: Maple Leaf Foods president Michael McCain and Carole Swan, president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Their appearance is on the heels of last Friday’s report from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, who accused federal officials and the CFIA of keeping provincial officials in the dark and hurting public trust in the health system by leaving the impression that the outbreak was not being well managed.

The new information circulated over the weekend, which the union says is based on private conversations with senior officials inside the agency, is expected to raise further questions. The union says the CFIA is looking to scale back its budget by between 10 and 15 per cent to free up money for the agency so it can create an emergency fund to deal with future outbreaks.

CFIA spokesman Tim O’Connor denied the union’s claims in a statement to The Globe. While the CFIA says there is an "allocation process" under way, food safety is the agency’s priority and the CFIA already has an emergency fund.

"There will be no 10-15 per cent reduction in CFIA’s operational budgets," wrote Mr. O’Connor in an e-mail. "This allocation process does not affect inspection activities at the CFIA."

The MPs on the subcommittee have a mandate to look into the listeria outbreak that killed 21 people, and examine Canada ’s food safety policies in general. Their plan is to publish a report with recommendations before the House of Commons breaks in June for the summer recess.

Opposition MPs demanded the probe because of their dissatisfaction with a federal inquiry headed by Sheila Weatherill, former CEO of Capital Health in Edmonton .

Among the many contentious aspects of her inquiry’s terms of reference is a stipulation that she not speak publicly until she issues her report in July. The MPs want to hear from her anyway and she is tentatively booked to appear on Wednesday.

Ms. Weatherill has so far been operating under the radar, calling in food inspectors and government officials for private meetings in her Ottawa office at CFIA headquarters.

Her inquiry will not hold any public hearings and her website indicates the window for written submissions from the public has closed.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper first promised an inquiry into the listeria outbreak just days before the 2008 federal election. However, when the inquiry’s terms of reference were released, many critics found them wanting.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal summed up the concerns in an editorial last year, noting the investigator has no power to subpoena witnesses or documents, and there is no commitment to publish the investigator’s findings or to report to Parliament.

"Such an investigation will be inferior to every epidemic inquiry in recent Canadian history," the editorial stated.

Further questions have been raised over a requirement that Ms. Weatherill submit draft sections of her report to government officials.

Opposition MPs have also accused Ms. Weatherill of being in a conflict of interest because she remains on the Prime Minister’s advisory committee on the public service. That committee’s mandate includes "branding the Public Service as a trusted and innovative institution of national importance."