Playing with Fire - When Political Ideology Costs lives

"Let the industry police itself" is a key Conservative ideology that is killing Canadians. With the government getting out of the business of public safety, incidents like the Listeria outbreak at the Maple Leaf processing plant are bound to rise. So far at least 20 deaths have been directly linked to the tainted meat at the Maple Leaf plant alone. Without federal inspectors there is no way of knowing how many more incidents of compromised food safety will or are going unreported by companies most concerned about cutting costs and maintaining a public image. One would think that the tragedy that occurred as a result of the Maple Leaf outbreak would have swayed the government to re-think its decision to transfer inspection duties for ready-to-eat meats to the meat industry, but no. The Conservative government is more concerned with saving money than with saving lives. But how much money are we talking about? By eliminating spot checks of meat plants, the government will save approximately $3 million dollars. Three million dollars works out to approx 11 cents per capita. That's right folks, the Prime Minister and his cabinet believe that human life is worth less than a quarter.