Madam Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss this very important issue to Canadians.
Before I get into the substance of the question, I would like to remind the hon. member across the way that if he wants more inspectors hired, he has to change his methodology. He stands in the House and asks why more inspectors are not hired. One cannot hire inspectors without money and one cannot receive money from the Government of Canada without the House agreeing to spend money.
The member and his party, the NDP, continually vote against all of this government's initiatives for food safety. He voted against our food safety agenda outlined in the Speech from the Throne. He voted against budget 2010 which provided $13 million to hire 100 new inspectors. He wants new inspectors, yet he voted against the money authorizing this government to hire them. He voted against supplementary estimates (C) which provided the first $8 million out of the $75 million for the CFIA related to the Weatherill recommendations. Despite all those votes against hiring more inspectors, he is here today saying to hire more inspectors.
The good news is that this government has hired more inspectors. The government is continuing to improve Canada's food safety system. In fact, since 2006, the CFIA's inspection staff has increased by a net total of 538. That is right, CFIA's inspection staff has increased by a net total of 538 since 2006.
Additionally, our Conservative government committed to implementing all 57 recommendations of the Weatherill report. Many of the commitments required from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have already been met by this government.
Actions taken to date have focused on prevention, on surveillance, on detection and better responses including: strengthening the CFIA's directives regarding the control of listeria in federally registered ready-to-eat meat processing plants; equipping CFIA inspectors with better tools, better technology such as laptops, cell phones and even faster network connectivity so they can get their job done better and more effectively and efficiently to keep Canada's food supply safe; updating federal-provincial-territorial protocols for managing food-borne illness outbreaks; and enhancing laboratory capacity and research into the development of rapid test methods.
The CFIA and Health Canada have also developed a brand new screening method for listeria in meat which allows for a more rapid response during food safety investigations.
Furthermore, we have launched a food safety portal on the web. This government has invested a great deal into bringing Internet connectivity, bringing the web across this country. In this case, it provides Canadians with comprehensive food safety and food-borne illness information immediately. This is good news.
Our government's record on food safety speaks for itself. The question I have for the member opposite and all of the NDP members is will they vote against the $22 million in the estimate votes we having coming up in the House? Will he this time support food safety in Canada?