CMAJ • March 3, 2009; 180 (5). doi:10.1503/cmaj.090165.
© 2009 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors
All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association.
Laura Eggertson
The outbreak of listeriosis in August 2008, traced to contaminated processed meat from Maple Leaf Foods, killed 20 people. Maple Leaf Chief Executive Officer Michael McCain accepted responsibility and has since settled claims and compensated the families of those who died and the people who fell ill.
© 2009 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors
All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association.
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Federal listeriosis investigation has limited mandate
CMAJ
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has appointed the former president of the Edmonton Health Authority to investigate last year's listeriosis outbreak, but she will not be able to subpoena witnesses or compel testimony.
Sheila Weatherill will report to Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz by July 20 with recommendations of ways to avoid future outbreaks of food-borne disease, the Prime Minister's Office stated in in a press release.
But Weatherill — who will not be permitted to talk to reporters until the investigation is complete — will not make findings of criminal or civil liability, as her investigation lacks the scope or authority of a full-scale public inquiry.
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The outbreak of listeriosis in August 2008, traced to contaminated processed meat from Maple Leaf Foods, killed 20 people. Maple Leaf Chief Executive Officer Michael McCain accepted responsibility and has since settled claims and compensated the families of those who died and the people who fell ill.
Critics say Harper hasn't give enough powers to find out whether Canada's food safety system failed during the outbreak.
As a consequence, Liberal Agriculture Critic Wayne Easter calls the investigation a "farce" because Weatherill can't examine the actions of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and other levels of government — including the offices of the agriculture minister and the prime minister. Nor do victims and their families have a role and there's no guarantee the report will be made public, he adds.
Easter also says Weatherill is in conflict of interest as a member of the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee on the Public Service.
Dr. Kumanan Wilson, Canada Research Chair in Public Health at the University of Ottawa, says improvements in food safety, rather than optics, should have been the government's objective. Lacking authority to compel testimony, while being limited to reporting to the agriculture ministry rather than the Public Health Agency of Canada, the investigation is unlikely to address general food safety; the effectiveness of the disease surveillance system; or the efficacy of interdepartmental communications during an outbreak, he adds.
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