The DAILY DIGEST: INFORMATION and OPINION from ST. JOHN'S to VICTORIA.
ARCHIVED at http://cdndailydigest.blogspot.com/
EDITORIALs ARCHIVED at http://cdndailydigest.blogspot.com/
ST.JOHN'S TELEGRAM -
Flying pigs and rusting ships
CORNER BROOK WESTERN STAR -
Have a fun, safe weekend
It could happen here some day
My political intentions are PURE
Where do we stand
AMHERST DAILY NEWS -
Pulling plug poses lots of questions
Mixed message from premier
OTTAWA CITIZEN -
A matter of modesty
Looks really are deceiving
OTTAWA SUN -
Food inspectors needed here
KINGSTON WHIG STANDARD-
Food industry faces challenge
'Dead zones' worry scientists
BELLEVILLE INTELLIGENCER -
Listeria hysteria taking over at grocery stores
TORONTO STAR -
Staking Canada's Arctic claims
Buck-passing on meat
GLOBE & MAIL -
Manufacturing a crisis
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080828.weeelection0828/BNStory/specialComment/home
The duty to inform
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080828.wxemeat28/BNStory/specialComment/home
NATIONAL POST -
Six reasons Harper should call an election
NIAGARA FALLS REVIEW -
Conservatives need substance to call election
A creditable response to a nightmare situation
K-W RECORD -
Save Georges Bank
WINDSOR STAR -
Take care of our soldiers
SUDBURY STAR -
Tories' take on youth crime false
Some teens need to be scared straight
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS -
A northern vision
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/editorial/story/4219548p-4812924c.html
CALGARY HERALD -
An election most don't want
CALGARY SUN -
Government gets smart on education
EDMONTON SUN -
Scope of web crime eludes our leaders
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/Commentary/2008/08/29/6602966-sun.html
RED DEER ADVOCATE -
Food safety system failed
PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN -
Election about expediency
VANCOUVER SUN -
Canada's claim of Arctic sovereignty faces hard, cold realities
VICTORIA TIMES-COLONIST -
Poll a warning for B.C. Liberals
ISSUES
CANUSA/USACAN
Alaska governor signs natgas pipeline license bill
Ottawa wanted U.S. to accept more lenient meat inspection regime
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080829.wmeatcfia29/BNStory/National/home
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Canada avoids recession
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Cold War caricatures don't tell the Georgian story
Is Georgia payback for Russia?
Mr Cheney goes to Georgia
RUSSIA HITS BACK AT G7 CRITICISM
RUSSIA MAY CUT OFF OIL FLOW TO THE WEST
HEALTH CARE RELATED
Wealth and financial health
Walkerton mayor calls for public inquiry on listeria outbreak
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080829.wwalkert29/BNStory/National/home
JUSTICE SYSTEM
Doing more than collecting pictures
POLITICS IN THE PROVINCES
Williams accused of 'fed bashing' with arts funding announcement
PARTY POLITICS
Harper determined to call election: Duceppe
all 1,326 news articles »
BQ says Harper wants election
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=756474
PM 'absolutely' wants an election: Duceppe
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080829/harper_meeting_080829/20080829?hub=Canada
Harper intent on fall election, Duceppe says
Canada's Harper still optimistic on Mackenzie gas
Harper lawyer dismisses expert opinion in Cadman case
POLITICAL OPINION -
Authoritarian" is such a loaded term: Liveblogging the Cadman injunction hearing
http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/08/29/authoritarian-is-such-a-loaded-term-liveblogging-the-cadman-injunction-hearing/
QUEBEC, THE NEW TORY STRONGHOLD
Conservatives lags ahead of expected election -
Dion must fix regionally unfair tax
Senate reform sure to surface as critical issue
PM's poll talk sounds like hypocrisy
Harper's snap election call would violate 'principle' he fought for
Fall election? Ho hum
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/westview/story/4219052p-4812450c.html
What dysfunction?
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/westview/story/4219050p-4812442c.html
Harper government's child-care agenda has failed
Snap election idea just ticks everyone off
Election means long-delayed retirement for veteran MPs
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/08/28/don-martin.aspx
Dion, Harper sparring
1 year and 256 days ago, Parliament passed the federal Conservatives' so-called government "Accountability Act", but one of the Act's 30 measures is still not in force (and the Conservatives have broken 27 of their accountability and democratic reform election promises)! http://www.dwatch.ca/camp/OpEdJul2208.html
PROGRAMMES
Icebreaker Replacement Deadline Looms
Despite $720 million in yesterday's federal budget, procurement for a new polar icebreaker will take eight to 10 years.
http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/february/27/icebreaker_deadline/
Food inspection agency expands self-policing
Vets to assume 'oversight' role at abattoirs
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c7940567-9fc9-49da-b49f-746109d079f1
MacKay says Ottawa will restart process to replace aging navy ships
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080829.wnavy29/BNStory/National/home
Almost 50 more products added to meat recall list
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080829/meat_products_080829/20080829?hub=Canada
PRESSURE POINTS
Water exports are 'blue gold' says think tank
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=751679
OPINION AND INFORMATION
The futile war on smoking
Psychologists and politicians
Giving us the oar
The federal government plans to extinguish a right that Canadians have always had-- to freely navigate our rivers
http://www.nationalpost.com/related/links/story.html?id=710684
INFOS
Salmonellose: un nombre inhabituellement élevé de cas est rapporté
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/080829/N082937AU.html
Elections: même si l'échéance s'est rapprochée, Dion assure qu'il sera prêt
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/080828/N0828138AU.html
Des députés libéraux fédéraux espèrent quelques modifications au Tournant vert
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/080828/N0828210AU.html
Huit décès sont maintenant attribués à l'éclosion de listériose
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/080828/N0828202AU.html
La majorité des Canadiens estime qu'il y aura des élections cet automne
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/080828/N0828189AU.html
Les Canadiens semblent moins pessimistes au sujet de l'économie, révèle un sondage
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/080828/N0828111AU.html
Relations de travail
Climat tendu à Postes Canada
http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/manitoba/2008/08/29/002-tensions_postes_n.shtml
Parti libéral du Canada
La culture en campagne
http://www.radio-canada.ca/arts-spectacles/PlusArts/2008/08/28/001-Dion-culture-compression.asp
Soutien fédéral aux arts
Manifestation contre les compressions
http://www.radio-canada.ca/arts-spectacles/PlusArts/2008/08/27/001-manif-culture-rapport-cbc.asp
Arctique
Ottawa étend sa zone d'influence
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Politique/2008/08/27/001-Harper-Arctique.shtml
Le PC déclenche une campagne de pub
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080829/CPACTUALITES/808290772/1025/CPACTUALITES
Le PC lance une vaste campagne de publicité
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080828/CPACTUALITES/80828209/1025/CPACTUALITES
e NPD mettra le paquet
Harper rencontrera Duceppe vendredi
La Teoria Conspiratoria
Federal campaign will be nasty
Get set for deja vu, all over again. Only this federal election contest likely will be nastier and more personal than any in recent memory. In the last go-round, fought over the Christmas holiday of '05-'06, Stephen Harper's Conservatives deftly.. MORE...
Snap election idea just ticks everyone off
I don't know about your TV, but Stephen Joseph Harper got on mine a couple of nights ago to announce he expects a minority government will arise out of the election he, maybe, will call, soonish. MORE...
The Tories' winning issue? Certainly not fiscal rectitude
s an election looms, the Harper government is looking increasingly vulnerable in a policy area that should reflect its greatest strength -- the economy. MORE...
Quebecers don't like Dion because he is a centralist
The Liberal leader must shake that image to make inroads in this province. Stéphane Dion won't escape it. The upcoming federal election could end up as a referendum - if you'll pardon the use of the word - on his own leadership. MORE...
Harper 'fixing' federal election date
Stephen Harper is itching for an election; and, if he wants it, he will get it. One of the perks of being prime minister is the power -- most of the time -- to recommend the dissolution of Parliament and to determine the date on which a.. MORE...
Harper's snap election call would violate 'principle' he fought for
It will take some twisted rhetoric to justify breaking with fixed election date. It now seems almost certain that Stephen Harper will visit the Governor General just after Labour Day to seek an early election. This is despite the fixed election date of.. MORE...
Riding into the political sunset
MPs awaiting retirement may soon get their wish. The last Stetson-sporting MP is fading into the Alberta sunset, the richest MP returning to much greener pastures and the prime minister of dashed expectations retreating to his Quebec farm.. MORE...
Tories' arts cuts spark ire in Quebec
The recent Conservative cuts to arts and culture have done what neither the pursuit of the unpopular Afghan war nor the demise of the Kyoto Protocol had accomplished: wake up a sleeping Quebec giant that is now gathering strength.. MORE...
Taking aim at Harper best bet for Liberals
t's about Harper, stupid. With apologies to the Clintons and Carvilles, this is – or ought to be – the rallying cry for Liberals as they soon enter the first days of a now certain fall election campaign. MORE...
Staking Canada's Arctic claims
Prime Minister Stephen Harper deserves credit for expanding Canada's claim to the Far North with his announcement this week that Ottawa will extend its jurisdiction in the Arctic Ocean. Foreign ships will be required to report.. MORE...
Doing more than collecting pictures
Are kiddie pornographers "just picture collectors" who trade or sell their wares on peer-to-peer cyber networks? Or is there much, much more to worry about here? The answer from a new study of 155 convicted cyber child pornographers.. MORE...
Tories to target drug use in prison
Judge deals Day a blow on inmate transfers
Tougher Arctic Rules For Ships Tough Sell: Pm
Tory officials seek exemption to lobbyist rule
Food inspection agency expands self-policing
Radiation touted to protect meat
Slight lead for Grits
Mounties probe Couillard link to real-estate deal
Gloves come off early as vote call expected
Liberal MPs seek changes to Green Shift plan
U.K.: GREEN TAX CON COSTS YOU A FORTUNE
I'll fight a clean campaign, Dion insists
Dion, Harper already sparring
Harper uses Trudeau's name to slam Dion
PM to meet with Duceppe, Layton as vote call looms
Canadians ready for fall election, pollster finds
Protect polar bears, Tories say
Newfoundland to cover federal cuts to the arts
Brutal facts on terror and the uselessness of torture
BELOW(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)
A POSITIVE
That new polar class icebreaker was set in motion even though it will be ten years before it is in service is a positive. Three were promised last election but one is better than none which was the plan until now. A POSITIVE
Anti-Russian political rhetoric is counterproductive. The following quotes speak to reality:
"In his testimony, Mr. Kessel said Canada is actually working with the Russiansas well as the Americans and Danishto eliminate as many potential
overlaps as possible between each country's respective submission. It is expected Canada's claim will bump up against those of the other three nations.
"The scientists are very collaborative and share their data with us and we share with them. Our common objective is to avoid any perception of or real overlaps
and reduce future arbitration needs." http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/february/27/icebreaker_deadline/
_________________________________________________
Even after they hit the water, the notion that we can defend our claims of sovereignty with a stronger military presence is ludicrous.
We need a year-round capacity to patrol the arctic, but in a research, policing and rescue role, not as a military deterrent. Our only hope of
securing international agreement that we are the undisputed masters of the undersea riches adjacent to our coasts is through negotiation.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=a8b2d0de-80bf-4520-a867-72acf08bf14e
A NEGATIVE
This headline "Food inspection agency expands self-policing Vets to assume 'oversight' role at abattoirs" coming when the full effects of the LISTERIA breakdown of quality control is at least to me a negative. overlaps as possible between each country's respective submission. It is expected Canada's claim will bump up against those of the other three nations.
"The scientists are very collaborative and share their data with us and we share with them. Our common objective is to avoid any perception of or real overlaps
and reduce future arbitration needs." http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/february/27/icebreaker_deadline/
_________________________________________________
Even after they hit the water, the notion that we can defend our claims of sovereignty with a stronger military presence is ludicrous.
We need a year-round capacity to patrol the arctic, but in a research, policing and rescue role, not as a military deterrent. Our only hope of
securing international agreement that we are the undisputed masters of the undersea riches adjacent to our coasts is through negotiation.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=a8b2d0de-80bf-4520-a867-72acf08bf14e
A NEGATIVE
Read the article posted below. Do you feel comfortable in supporting the policies in process or not?
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From: "Rebecca Gingrich" Subject: DD
Joe--too bad we can't blame China for this outbreak! After all, we know we
are perfect in all things and my leader can beat your leader is the only
really important issue in Canada.
The only think I can't figure out about this issue is why anyone is
surprised. Incompetence can only survive for so long before the you know
what hits the fan! Sadly, I have to say we ain't seen nothing yet.
Bacteria is more adept at survival than we are. How many other strains of
bacteria have been introduced through the foreign worker program(I know that
is not politically correct). BUT--remember the outbreak of Hep C supposedly
introduced via onions picked by foreign workers in the US? What else is on
the horizon?
The habit of throwing money at any situation is the action of government who
believes their own spin re 'protecting citizens'. They have no concept of
reality. As long as the paperwork can be made to look efficient everything
is under control. Just put more words on paper and problem solved!
I don't believe for one minute that Maple Leaf is the only problem here. If
it happens at Maple Leaf it happens everywhere. Incompetence is it's own
enemy and no one is ready to address that issue. Fire a few people, hide
the truth and spin, spin, spin! And sadly our seniors are kept in dirty
diapers and fed faux meats and we see nothing wrong with this. Why are
seniors being fed something with absolutely no food value in the first
place?
We learned nothing from the BSE outbreak--spin and incompetence go hand in
hand. And now this may become an election issue! What the hell are we
missing here--this has gone on for years. We have just been lucky or other
governments have done a better job of hiding things. Or we could blame
someone else--like China--but the fact remains that our inspectors should be
inspecting what comes into this country also. The buck stops with the
inspectors, immigration and all other areas involved with food production.
But not to worry--this will all be forgotten just like everything else--we
will go back to sleep and nothing will change. Our governments of all
stripes will shout that they are protecting us and nothing will change. We
are just pawns in the corporate game.
BUY CANADIAN! WE ARE PERFECT!!!
becky
AND
Joe--I also meant to add another comment. Due to waste, incompetence and
ignorance, the inspection aspect of our 'watchdogs' are crumbling just like
the infrastructure of the country. As we are in an economic 'slowdown'
nothing will change except to get worse.
becky
Joe--too bad we can't blame China for this outbreak! After all, we know we
are perfect in all things and my leader can beat your leader is the only
really important issue in Canada.
The only thing I can't figure out about this issue is why anyone is
surprised. Incompetence can only survive for so long before the you know
what hits the fan! Sadly, I have to say we ain't seen nothing yet.
Bacteria is more adept at survival than we are. How many other strains of
bacteria have been introduced through the foreign worker program(I know that
is not politically correct). BUT--remember the outbreak of Hep C supposedly
introduced via onions picked by foreign workers in the US? What else is on
the horizon?
The habit of throwing money at any situation is the action of government who
believes their own spin re 'protecting citizens'. They have no concept of
reality. As long as the paperwork can be made to look efficient everything
is under control. Just put more words on paper and problem solved!
I don't believe for one minute that Maple Leaf is the only problem here. If
it happens at Maple Leaf it happens everywhere. Incompetence is it's own
enemy and no one is ready to address that issue. Fire a few people, hide
the truth and spin, spin, spin! And sadly our seniors are kept in dirty
diapers and fed faux meats and we see nothing wrong with this. Why are
seniors being fed something with absolutely no food value in the first
place?
We learned nothing from the BSE outbreak--spin and incompetence go hand in
hand. And now this may become an election issue! What the hell are we
missing here--this has gone on for years. We have just been lucky or other
governments have done a better job of hiding things. Or we could blame
someone else--like China--but the fact remains that our inspectors should be
inspecting what comes into this country also. The buck stops with the
inspectors, immigration and all other areas involved with food production.
But not to worry--this will all be forgotten just like everything else--we
will go back to sleep and nothing will change. Our governments of all
stripes will shout that they are protecting us and nothing will change. We
are just pawns in the corporate game.
BUY CANADIAN! WE ARE PERFECT!!!
becky
===================================
From: "Suan H.Booiman"
Subject: listeria - Harper
August 20, 2008
Joe,
Listeria.
Unfortunate that this took place and one company facing bankruptcy because of it,
but....
yes but our country has a foundation since to 1960's of health care fear as many
new immigrants have been brought here without being presented the principles of
Canada, of which one is cleanliness. It is easy to lay the blame on a company
without knowing the source, maybe, just maybe, some of the workers find it hard
to wash their hand, as an example. No inspector will ever be able to control all
that are involved, does not many how many inspectors there are, it is the basics
that people need to learn we are so fearful to tell them. Till my teens (15) lived in
a household that had a large catering business going from home, my father's
first demand was from all that worked for him was cleanliness, hands, cloth,
the surrounding, did not matter what job one was holding, be a part of it (today's
WESTJET is one)
Harper
Have to laugh when I read the comments about Harper and his government not
being able to control the economy in Canada. How brainless. In today's world
society no one country can control the economy, they can make it better or worse,
but no able to prevent it from changing. My second major was economics (some
65 years ago) and the principle has not changed, least of all on this continent
where a powerful country is depending on the production of goods that have
no economic return *war materials, satellites to name a few". No person or company
can survive without have a return on the principle capital. Trudeau was a master
in spending, dragging the nation to near bankruptcy because the money went to
places that produced little or no return. not even capital gain.
Look at Bombardier, where would it be without government grants and interest
free loans, where would the space industry be without federal funding, largely
used in Central Canada, the political world to concentrate industrial power.
The rising dead of the automobile industry in Canada without federal bail outs.
Suan
===================================
From: "Mark Whittle"
This latest tainted meat scandal makes one want to become a vegetarian. And it seems the Liberal regime before Harper tried to soft-soap the Americans on Listeria regulations, a file that was negotiated by the Liberals and inherited by the Conservatives.
Respectfully,
Mark-Alan Whittle, C.E.O.
Street Advisor Consulting
(MAW - after more than two years the tune's a bit stale)
===================================
Food inspection agency expands self-policing
Vets to assume 'oversight' role at abattoirs
Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, August 29, 2008
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c7940567-9fc9-49da-b49f-746109d079f1
After testing a new poultry inspection program -- which transferred the job of condemning sick birds from government veterinarians to company employees -- at three slaughterhouses last fall, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is in the midst of rolling out the self-policing program to abattoirs across the country.Vets to assume 'oversight' role at abattoirs
Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, August 29, 2008
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c7940567-9fc9-49da-b49f-746109d079f1
The new Poultry Rejection Program, under which veterinarians supervise the company's rejection of carcasses during two 20-minute periods a day, follows the end of weekly inspections in April so inspectors could give the green light for production at meat plants. These visual pre-operation inspections of the production line, sanitization protocols, drains and ventilation systems now occur monthly.
If inspectors see a problem on the line in the interim, they're now encouraged to use a new tool -- called a correction action report -- that gives the company 60 days to fix the problem rather than stopping production immediately.
Meanwhile, government veterinarians stationed at hog slaughterhouses are no longer responsible for inspecting stool samples; this responsibility has been transferred to plant staff under a program known as HIP-HOG, with vets required to check twice over an eight-hour shift to see if company employees are doing it properly.
These incremental changes to the way food inspection is done in Canada, quietly made during the past year, are being implemented as the country wrestles with a food-borne outbreak traced to the listeria bacterium at a federally regulated meat-processing plant in Toronto.
More reforms are coming on the production side if the government moves ahead with its plan to shift away from a "full-time presence" of veterinarians at abattoirs to an "oversight role," outlined in a cabinet document obtained last month by Canwest News Service.
Sylvain Charlebois, associate dean of the graduate school of business at the University of Regina and co-author of a recent report on the food-inspection system in Canada, says the government, the food industry and the public must "engage in a fundamental debate about the role of the private sector within our food-safety surveillance systems.
"And I think we need to have that discussion without panicking about listeria," he said. "The listeria outbreak offers us a great opportunity to have a sound debate about the food-safety systems in Canada."
The food inspection agency doesn't like to talk about specific incremental changes, but senior officials say the agency is modernizing the inspection process to improve the food-safety surveillance system and tweaking the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point systems, an approach introduced by the previous Liberal government.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz recommends a partnership with industry and emphasizes that an oversight role for inspectors is more proactive.
Food-inspection experts in Canada are split on the merits of the approach. Government inspectors and veterinarians are voicing concerns about the changes.
For example, there is "at least the appearance of conflict of interest where an unsupervised company employee rejects birds on behalf of his own employer," the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada argues in correspondence with the Chicken Farmers of Canada about the new Poultry Rejection Program. The institute represents government veterinarians stationed at slaughterhouses across the country.
Mr. Charlebois supports the current direction, but says the government is doing a "lousy job" selling it.
"It's unnatural for Canadians to believe that the private sector can be trusted when it comes to public health. But we're dealing with such a vast and big system, we have no choice. Bottom line? If Canadians think the private sector doesn't have a role right now, they've been misled."
Conrad Brunk, an expert in health risk management at the University of Victoria, says the admission by Maple Leaf Foods this week about the listeria contamination at its Toronto plant -- that the company may never definitively know the cause of the contamination -- reinforces the need for a stronger government role in the food-inspection system.
"In cases where the self-regulator has a very strong conflict of interest, then it becomes a case of the fox being put in charge of the hen house. When you do that, you have to know pretty well what's motivating the fox."
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