The Liberals say Harper blamed bureaucrats for the Ritz crisis. You be the judge. Here's what Harper said in Trois Rivieres during a question-and-answer period with reporters after announcing tax cuts for seniors:
First, he responded to CBC's Paul Hunter, who asked if Harper was concerned that a bureaucrat apparently was trying to sabotage the campaign by leaking this information in the middle of an election:
“I gather Minister Ritz said this on a conference call which a number of people were on. It was a private conversation. But just the same, I think he recognizes that it was still inappropriate, private or otherwise. Look, I suspect everyone in this room, if they're honest with themselves, will admit in private conversations they probably said things pretty insensitive and inappropriate if they shone a light on it. On the question of how concerned am I about the leak – I would say this: If this was the real tenor of Minister Ritz's comments at the time I would have been concerned. It obviously wasn't or it wouldn't have been brought to our attention long before now.
It obviously was an inappropriate joke by a minister who was under a lot of stress. My concern is not about the leak per se because I think when you deal with a large number of people, even privately, I've always told our people, even privately in this business, I've told our people you should always be prepared for the fact that whatever you say could be repeated and you should be very careful about what you say and think very very carefully.
So Minister Ritz has apologized and I don't think we want to point fingers and blame people. I will say this: The real question during that whole period of time was making sure everybody was doing their job. Not just the company that took full responsibility for the listeriosis crisis but all government officials in all departments were working round the clock to make sure they were fixing the problem. Certainly, I would like to know that that, and that alone, was the priority of officials and I think it was the priority of the vast number of government officials. I'm obviously disappointed that some have some other priorities.
I think it's important that when we have a crisis, we all focus on working together, not trying to, down the road, score political points on each other. “
It obviously was an inappropriate joke by a minister who was under a lot of stress. My concern is not about the leak per se because I think when you deal with a large number of people, even privately, I've always told our people, even privately in this business, I've told our people you should always be prepared for the fact that whatever you say could be repeated and you should be very careful about what you say and think very very carefully.
So Minister Ritz has apologized and I don't think we want to point fingers and blame people. I will say this: The real question during that whole period of time was making sure everybody was doing their job. Not just the company that took full responsibility for the listeriosis crisis but all government officials in all departments were working round the clock to make sure they were fixing the problem. Certainly, I would like to know that that, and that alone, was the priority of officials and I think it was the priority of the vast number of government officials. I'm obviously disappointed that some have some other priorities.
I think it's important that when we have a crisis, we all focus on working together, not trying to, down the road, score political points on each other. “
Then a few minutes later, Sun Media's Greg Weston, asked a similar question, suggesting that what happened to Minister Ritz is the result of a Liberal-stacked bureaucracy? Harper replied, in part:
“I think public servants have generally worked very well with this government. I'm very pleased with the assistance I've received from the senior public service. It's not to say we haven't always agreed, it's not say we haven't in fact butted heads from to time. I don't think this government has suffered from leaks anymore frequently than any other government. There's always people in the bureaucracy who do leak for whatever reason but I think it you look back at the Martin government in particularly, I don't think you'll see any greater frequency in this government than in that government. So I don't think that's a fair accusation.
I think the Minister has to and has taken full responsibility. The most important thing when we're in this kind of crisis is that we act to get it resolved.”
I think the Minister has to and has taken full responsibility. The most important thing when we're in this kind of crisis is that we act to get it resolved.”
Thanks for this Mr. Akin,
But as a follow-up, might I ask if you, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Weston or any other member of the media present at the press conference asked Mr. Harper, specifically, who was involved in crafting changes to CFIA policy that led to the removal of government inspectors from meat processing plants after Nov 2007?
Please accept my apologies if you have dealt with this subject elsewhere, but I felt I had to ask because, in my opinion, it is the identity of the person or persons who made that public health policy decision regarding self-regulation, not the identity of the person or persons who squealed on a Minister who clearly has issues with self-control, that Canadians really need to know about such that they can make truly informed choices when they vote on Oct 14th.
Thanks again.
.
I don't really understand the big deal. Where else did the information come from?
Ritz is guilty of the comments, the bureaucracy is guilty of the leak.
Am I wrong?
Ritz is a fool and should be fired, but the discussion should be whether Canada wants to go down this road that Harper wants to take. A fellow by the name of Mike Harris tried the same thing Harper is doing, and it led to Walkerton. We are now at more deaths with Listeriosis then Walkerton, yet the media seem to have ignored it, and only are discussing it now because of a silly Cabinet Minister exposed to be a buffoon.
So, they aren't even asking the government about the real issue that the public should be worried about, and as RossK said, people in the media should be focusing on, which is the policy of the Conservatives that prompted all this mess – the decision to try to get government regulators out of the food inspection basis and turning it back over to the food industry to police themselves.
Oh yes, that great axis of evil, Bush, Harper, and Harris. That big “scary” Stephen Harper has been in government now for what, 2 years now and man that sky hasn't fallen a bit. Imagine.
The sky?
Can it even fall in a meat processing plant?
Or.
Put another way…..
If listeria blooms in an uninspected meat cutter, can it kill someone?
____
(and just to be clear, I ask these questions as a matter of 'policy' not as a 'joke' – OK?)
.
.