In June 2016, Mr. Paul Mayers, the vice-president of policy and programs of CFIA, testified to this committee that CFIA inspectors are present every day and during every shift in federally regulated meat slaughter plants. He said, “CFIA inspectors visit those plants every day, every shift but they are not present 100% of the time. It is an inspection done every single shift.”
In June of 2016, Mr. Bob Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union, indicated to this committee that the statement made by Mr. Mayers was false. Now in response, CFIA clarified that:
...while its targets are not met in all cases 100% of the time, it operates at or close to target a significant majority of the time. The nature of CFIA's operations is impacted by fluctuations in demand for service, response to emergent events and occasional challenges in filling vacancies promptly.
Leaving aside the question of the discrepancy in testimony, in the 2017 departmental plan, CFIA indicates that it intends to reduce full-time-equivalent positions in the food safety program over the next three years. Given that it's recognized that inspection staff have already been scratched and are certainly not present in all shifts for meat inspections at slaughter plants, how do you anticipate this cut will affect the delivery of program direction?