From Rabble.ca:

[Nuggler]

Probably a union shop, same as in Walkerton.

Same con attitude also. Let the the company self police.

Were the Walkerton idiots in a union? I forget. I understand they tended to perhaps drink on the job a bit.

The number of government inspectors is irrelevant if they are not doing their job properly.It is only because we have a stupid legal system that government inspectors are even required. The proper method is to make senior management personally responsible so they will be sued into personal bankruptcy if such a problem occurs.

Good point, Taxslave. How long do you figure it will take the cons to pass a law like that ? Or, if there is in fact already one on the books (?), to enforce it. ?

 

[Cannuck]

Probably a union shop, same as in Walkerton.

I'm sure if it was a union shop, more attention would have been focused on the commission members

 

[Nuggler]

I'm sure if it was a union shop, more attention would have been focused on the commission members

Yep, them pesky "UNION BOSSES" would have been hung out to dry by the kind hearted C E O'S.

 

[Cannuck]

Yep, them pesky "UNION BOSSES" would have been hung out to dry by the kind hearted C E O'S.

I'm thinking more like the union would have kept the fact that the Commission had water reports documenting the positive bacT hits, in the public eye. Most people know how badly the workers screwed up but not many understand just how bad management dropped the ball.

 

[Nuggler]

I'm thinking more like the union would have kept the fact that the Commission had water reports documenting the positive bacT hits, in the public eye. Most people know how badly the workers screwed up but not many understand just how bad management dropped the ball.

What?!! Those law abiding CEO's dropping the ball. Unheard of.......

Just my opinion, Cannuck; but I think once the class action suits get rolling, XL will be ex - L.........Too bad 2000 employees might become permanently unemployed. Really is sad.

 

[earth_as_one]

this article is about how the Harper government failed to manage the problem competently, not about the benefits of socialism, unions. This article does claim Harper government caused the problem, although it does say that cutting government inspector positions may have been a contributing factor.

The main focus of that article is how the Harper government reacted to the problem... Instead of limiting the scope of the problem, they tried to ignore it and hope it went away. Instead they should have immediately went o damage control mode and ordered the plant's closure.

This crisis didn't just hurt XL foods. It has affected the entire Canadian beef industry from production through to sales.

If the Harper government stopped production as soon as the problem was detected by US inspectors we wouldn't have a 2000+ product recall as a result of tainted meat going through the production chain.

 

[Nuggler]

this article is about how the Harper government failed to manage the problem competently, not about the benefits of socialism, unions. This article does claim Harper government caused the problem, although it does say that cutting government inspector positions may have been a contributing factor.

The main focus of that article is how the Harper government reacted to the problem... Instead of limiting the scope of the problem, they tried to ignore it and hope it went away. Instead they should have immediately went o damage control mode and ordered the plant's closure.

This crisis didn't just hurt XL foods. It has affected the entire Canadian beef industry from production through to sales.

If the Harper government stopped production as soon as the problem was detected by US inspectors we wouldn't have a 2000+ product recall as a result of tainted meat going through the production chain.

Nope, don't think so. Harper can take a bye on this one. If the company brass had practiced safety protocols which had been put in place, this wouldn't have happened.

Harper DID reduce the overall number of inspectors in the industry, but he didn't keep the lines moving, trumping cleanliness.

I hate defending the douche bag, but......................

 

[earth_as_one]

But when the company did not practice safety protocols and continued to move tainted meat into the food chain, then its the government's responsibility to intervene. That did not happen in a timely manner and as a result the problem grew and more people were affected. A recall which would have been just a few products if the Harper government reacted, grew into thousands of products.

The Harper government was asleep at the switch and therefore deserves a good deal of credit for making this a much bigger crisis than it should have been.

 

[CDNBear]

But when the company did not practice safety protocols and continued to move tainted meat into the food chain, then its the government's responsibility to intervene. That did not happen in a timely manner and as a result the problem grew.

The Harper government was asleep at the switch and therefore deserves a good deal of credit for making this a much bigger crisis than it should have been.

How is it the gov'ts fault XL foods didn't follow proper safety programs?

Oh ya, it's always enforcements fault. :roll:

 

[Cannuck]

Harper DID reduce the overall number of inspectors in the industry...

Statistically speaking how much safer were elevators after they started inspecting them? The answer might surprise some people.

 

[earth_as_one]

Eventually the Harper government did act and that's when this crisis started to become managed. But that action should have been weeks earlier, when US inspectors detected the problem, not after people started getting sick across the country.

 

[taxslave]

Same con attitude also. Let the the company self police.

Were the Walkerton idiots in a union? I forget. I understand they tended to perhaps drink on the job a bit.




Good point, Taxslave. How long do you figure it will take the cons to pass a law like that ? Or, if there is in fact already one on the books (?), to enforce it. ?

Far better chance of the cons passing a law like this than any lefty party that believes that no one is responsible for their own actions. Especially because it cuts the cost to government. Nothing makes management pay attention to detail better than the thought of being personally liable for any losses.
If you have followed the stories on Quebec's construction industry or the recent selling of personal info by BC government employees in charge of the Pt. Man bridge passes or the senior military personnel selling government secrets to the Russians you would know how easy it is to bribe government employees.

 

[Liberalman]

Temporary layoff of 2,000 workers at XL Foods plant in Alberta

They don't get it the government food inspectors caused this tragedy.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Back in the late '80's I was in that industry, in Red Deer, at Canada Packers.
We had about 125 people on the line and processed up to about 600 head a
day. We where one of many small (large in it's day through) processors in
the province.

Gov't inspectors would roll through (sometimes a team of two, sometimes a
team of four) at least once a week, & sometimes a couple times each week.

Then this super processing facility being discussed came along (it was Cargill
at the time...what's now XL) with the ability to process 5000-7000 head/day &
paying the employee's about 1/2 or less than everyone else was. Most of the
existing facilities disappeared in short order.

Compare the numbers. To have similar Gov't inspectors (# of inspectors to # of
cattle processed per day), they'd have to have several bus loads of inspectors
show up at least weekly (& sometimes a couple of times per week) unannounced
to roll through there...in what was a small Alberta city twenty-some years back.
The logistics just don't work. Here we are today. Go figure.

Temporary layoff of 2,000 workers at XL Foods plant in Alberta

They don't get it the government food inspectors caused this tragedy.

How so?

 

[Nuggler]

Statistically speaking how much safer were elevators after they started inspecting them? The answer might surprise some people.

Friend of mine is an elevator inspector, thereby causing me to use stairs wherever possible.

 

[eh1eh]

Anything uttered on rabble is what Judy vets. I got zero for her. Rabble is a tainted brand.

 

[CDNBear]

Back in the late '80's I was in that industry, in Red Deer, at Canada Packers.
We had about 125 people on the line and processed up to about 600 head a
day. We where one of many small (large in it's day through) processors in
the province.

Gov't inspectors would roll through (sometimes a team of two, sometimes a
team of four) at least once a week, & sometimes a couple times each week.

Then this super processing facility being discussed came along (it was Cargill
at the time...what's now XL) with the ability to process 5000-7000 head/day &
paying the employee's about 1/2 or less than everyone else was. Most of the
existing facilities disappeared in short order.

Compare the numbers. To have similar Gov't inspectors (# of inspectors to # of
cattle processed per day), they'd have to have several bus loads of inspectors
show up at least weekly (& sometimes a couple of times per week) unannounced
to roll through there...in what was a small Alberta city twenty-some years back.
The logistics just don't work. Here we are today. Go figure.

Doesn't the disappearance of all the other smaller facilities free up inspectors?

 

[Tonington]

Well they are still finding problems at the XL Plant. Why can't these people get their act together? After some serious findings and new oversight they are still finding non-compliance with routine procedures. Unbelievable. It's time to start handing out pink slips.
More problems found at Alberta meat plant at centre of massive E. coli recall | Canada | News | National Post

 

[Goober]

Some reasons they are having problems is rushed production- failure by the Company to follow protocols and CFIA - CFIA is mostly useless- they give multiple warning and nothing is done until the threat of closure comes into play. then the company promises to clean up their act- pay for improvements etc - but the company can be given quite a long time frame to get these done. And this can go on for a year or longer.

 

[damngrumpy]

First of all the information comes from a left of center source but it is a credible source.
The guy who wrote it has a history with the Globe and the Calgary Herald and the Calgary
paper is a right wing paper.
Aside from that, XL Foods is a disaster and has been from the beginning. They employed
foreign workers who rarely complains because weak labour laws would be insufficient to
protect them. The Government has looked the other way on this one for years.
The CFIA can't hide behind them they were invisible in the first place. This is the most
useless organization there is. You cannot escape the fact that there were 46 inspectors
at the plant, and they didn't see or hear or catch anything. Now even if I don't agree with
the present government on too many things, I can't see first hand how they could have
directly responsible for this specific incident. The Agency, yest. Even indirectly yes but
directly NO.
Governments in general have been reciting a mantra of cut red tape to be more competitive.
The real answer is not to make free trade deals with countries that won't meet our standards
in a modern civilized society. We need regulations, the last down turn in 2008 proved that.
unfettered capitalism is every bit as bad as unfettered socialism. Lax government regulations
and an Agency that can't do the job contributed to a disaster, but the company is to blame
they were interested solely in profit and to hell with their customers and the consumer.
Their attitude, greed, and deceptive practices were to blame.