Industry Self-Regulation – Another Update
Last week I wrote two posts on the Harper regime’s ideological decision not to impose mandatory reporting of drug shortages on the pharmaceutical industry. The government instead has placed its…
XL Foods
Most Delusional Politician of 2012: Gerry Ritz
Ralph Wiggum would be a better Agriculture Minister than Gerry Ritz In 2008, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was faced with a listeriosis crisis that killed 17 people. In a conference…
Despite plans to reopen next week, ripples from XL Foods closing may spread
Everything from ranches to feedlots to auction operations not quite like this one could be affected by a financial disaster at Nilsson Brothers Inc., the owner of XL Foods in…
Tweetergate? Meatergate? For heaven’s sake, stop her before she Tweets again!
Alberta’s Wildrose Opposition Leader Danielle Smith Tweeting “let them eat steaks” over the worldwide web. Injudicious Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The offending Tweet; the real…
The XL Foods E. coli Crisis: Is the media asking the right questions?
The Edmonton Journal’s front page on Friday. Below: Brian Nilsson apologizing, Lee Nilsson, the Mannix brothers, Fred and Ron. All photos grabbed from the Internet. Postmedia News, owner of Alberta’s…
When is an Agriculture minister ^NOT an Agriculture minister?
Silence is golden. A proverbial saying… With respect to the Harper government, specifically the Agriculture minister and the XL Foods recall, saying nothing is preferable to speaking. For those of…
Harperland and the Giant Slaughterhouse
The Con Meat Scandal has produced a lot of disturbing images. The sight of Gerry Ritz being hustled away by his handlers, after being unable to answer even a couple…
28 Hours Without Hydro: Thoughts On Thanks And Tainted Meat
Here in Canada it’s Thanksgiving Monday, when we Canucks consume turkey (or tofurkey, depending on preference), mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie a month earlier than our southern neighbours, although they…
Ministerial Responsibility
Does anyone remember that quaint notion? During the lead-up to the Falkands War, the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrignton, and two junior ministers resigned. They took the blame for Britain’s…
XL Foods, Tories and a frightened, politicized inspection agency offer a textbook case of brand destruction
“If it ain’t Alberta, it ain’t beef!” Not any more, though, thanks to the efforts of Alberta politicians, companies and the federal food inspection agency. From left to right above:…
In Praise of Thanksgiving
I’m especially thankful this year for turkey. H/t somecanuckchick Recommend this Post
Chopped Liver, Everyone?
Comedians like Don Rickles, whenever he felt slighted, would turn to host Johnny Carson and ask, “What am I, chopped liver?” I couldn’t help but think of that line when…
Everyone is a Politician These Days
Echoing the Conservative government’s ‘hang tough’ attitude that means never having to say you’re sorry, XL Foods had this to say about the tainted beef scandal they are at the…
Assumptions Can Be Dangerous
Harris assumed that small Ontario towns like Walkerton would have the good sense to keep their drinking water clean. Harper assumed that profit-making companies would make sure that their consumers…
Not To State The Obvious But ….
Canada’s food safety regime failed us So goes the title of The Star’s editorial this morning as it raises some very pressing questions about how over three weeks elapsed between…
I’ll Have a Veggie Burger, Please
In light of the widespread dissemination of tainted beef by XL Foods, one has to ask the role changes made by the Harper regime in Canada’s food inspection process played.…
If it’s Alberta, it ain’t goin’ across the border: time to connect the dots on XL Foods
“If it ain’t Alberta, it ain’t beef!” Alberta Beef Producers’ advertising models may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: I ; Alberta Agriculture Minister Verlyn Olson and Premier Alison Redford.…