Mr. Speaker, the member asked for a conversation about food safety. That is not what the Canadian people want. They want, as Elvis said, “A little less conversation, a little more action please”, and action is what they get on this side of the floor.
We have taken action to strengthen our food safety system with the legislation the member mentioned, which we introduced and her party eventually came around to supporting. We have updated the inspection approach based on common inspection activities and standard processes; delivered more comprehensive training to inspectors; implemented Health Canada's revised listeria policy; increased CFIA's science capacity; built the modern electronic tools so that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, CFIA, can share information more effectively with stakeholders; and we have provided better and more tools to front-line inspectors, whose numbers we have expanded.
As CFIA continues to modernize the inspection approaches, it will ensure that there continues to be enough inspection staff to protect the health and safety of the Canadian people. Our government has, in effect, strengthened the efforts of CFIA enforcement by broadening its mandate under the Safe Food for Canadians Act, which came just before Christmas, thereby fulfilling the final recommendation of the Weatherill report.
The act has many provisions that strengthen our food safety system, including giving CFIA the authority to mandate traceability for food processors. Comprehensive traceability systems will help the CFIA find non-compliant, high-risk products faster, so they can get off the shelves quicker.
The act also allows CFIA to mandate the way in which food processors maintain their records, and it allows the agency to compel producers to turn their records over to the CFIA without delay and in an appropriate format. Previously, food inspectors could keep their records with different levels of details. With this new legislation, CFIA can prescribe the type of information that companies must maintain. The consistency will make food safety investigations go much quicker and much more efficiently.
Canada has a world-class food recall system and acts immediately to alert consumers, should unsafe food enter the marketplace. Our government is committed to making these instances even rarer. I ask the NDP to work with us to make it so.