When I saw on the schedule that we were to be on a panel with Connors Brothers, I got a sudden craving for Brunswick sardines, so I had to go to the kitchen and eat some.
We are very fortunate in Saint John, New Brunswick, to have ready access to safe, local, nutritious, and affordable food. Will safe local food be as readily available to us after CETA and the TPP? I don't think so. What about maritime turkeys or local chicken? Turkey farmers have said that reducing tariffs and increasing imports under the TPP will put them out of business, and I believe them. Locally produced sardines, turkey, chicken, eggs, cheese, and milk are excellent, safe, and affordable protein sources for the people of Saint John to buy to feed their families. We need to protect all of them from CETA and the TPP.
For over a century, Saint John has had an excellent system for protecting the public's health. The city market managers always had the authority to ensure the food sold in the market was wholesome. When the Saint John Board of Health was established, and then the provincial health department, we had health inspectors to ensure our food workers were trained in food safety and that our food was safe to eat.
When I was health officer for the four counties from St. Stephen to Sussex, the public health system worked well. One weekend evening, I got a call at home from the head of the emergency department at the regional hospital. A number of people had arrived ill. Samples had been taken from a woman who was vomiting. They had all had takeout food from the same restaurant. I called the health inspector for the area. He went to the restaurant, located the contaminated food, took samples, and threw the rest of the contaminated food in the garbage, stopping the outbreak. The restaurant owner was informed of the food safety rules he had broken, which had resulted in the outbreak of illness.
We take safe food for granted, but we shouldn't. With NAFTA and the harmonization of our food standards with some other places, there has been a deterioration in food safety in Canada. Federal inspectors and inspection services have been reduced. Food processing can take place far away from where it's eaten. Meats are especially dangerous.
In 2008, 22 people died from eating sliced meat from Toronto, which was contaminated with listeria bacteria from meat slicers that were not properly cleaned. The listeria outbreak lasted from June to October, five months. Compare this to the few hours it took to end the outbreak in Saint John. Many people across Canada became ill in 2012 from E. coli bacteria in beef from out west that was processed in a plant with poor hygiene practices. An inspection at this plant in 2014 showed no running water in the sinks of the men's and women's washrooms, no paper towels, and other problems. This plant was said to have processed 40% of the beef in Canada exported to the U.S.
Since NAFTA, American-origin lettuce, other fruits and vegetables, and even nuts have been contaminated with disease-causing bacteria. In May of this year, CBC announced a massive recall of frozen fruits and vegetables produced in the U.S. from 2014 on, in regard to a listeriosis outbreak that began in 2013, causing illness in many people and some deaths.
Am I to slow down?