Agriculture Committee on Aug. 19th, 2008

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

But regardless, there are a large number of these documents out there, and many, if not the majority, don't get enacted. I think that's also a reasonable assumption to make.

[Michèle Demers]

May I respond?

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Yes.

[Michèle Demers]

It is a reasonable assumption to make, except that all the cuts or reallocations are not necessarily in regulatory agencies that have specific mandates.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Do you have proof that cuts were made to CFIA in budget 2008? The last number I saw, actually, was a $62 million increase, and there was an increase in hard numbers of 200 inspectors over the last two years.

[Michèle Demers]

They are reallocating resources to functions other than that of inspection. So the bottom line is that more money is coming in from the government to reallocate to different ways of doing things. But in the context of the document we were talking about, it means modifying significantly the way food inspection is being conducted and food labelling is being done, and--

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

I don't mean to interrupt, but we only have a limited amount of time. Are you speaking on behalf of your extensive experience as a scientist, or--

[Michèle Demers]

I'm talking of the extreme exposure I've had to many of my members, who have repeatedly come to me, as experts, with these concerns.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Thank you. I wanted to give you a chance to answer that, because Mr. Evans, who was here yesterday and does have experience with CFIA since its inception, has repeatedly denied all the accusations made by the opposition--

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

No, he did not.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Order.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

--and I think it's important that we get that on the record.

I'd also like to ask you another question. When an employee--

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order. Mr. Evans did not deny. He didn't confirm or deny a secret document.

What you said is wrong.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

You don't have a point or order; that is debate.

Mr. Storseth.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Thank you very much.

When an employee is terminated for something--for example, there's a big conspiracy, as we saw under the formal Liberal government--they often apply for things such as whistle-blower protection. That is legislation we now have in this country. Would that be a reasonable route for an employee to go if they found there was corruption, scandal, or mismanagement?

[Michèle Demers]

This employee who was brutally fired was not blowing the whistle. He was sending a document not to a journalist, to the public, to the integrity officer; he was sending a document to his union for advice. He's a shop steward, by the way.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

This is a secret cabinet document.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

No, it wasn't marked as that.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Order.

You can answer the question.

[Michèle Demers]

What's your question?

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

This is a secret cabinet document you're talking about. This isn't just something that walked across his desk and he decided he wanted to look into further. This was a secret cabinet document, as all these hundreds, if not thousands, of documents out of 17 departments would be.

And there's a reason they are secret. There's a reason that cabinet has responsibility and a right to see these documents and judge their validity. And the members of the opposition realize this.

[An hon. member]

Bernier.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Order.

[An hon. member]

Bernier.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

[Inaudible--Editor]