CTV coverage of Conservative Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz making "stupid and insensitive remarks" about the listeriosis epidemic. Roger Smith and Bob Fife talking to Mike Duffy. Note the exchange between Duffy and Fife around 3:00.
Some commenters over at Maclean's blogs think the controversy about Ritz's jokes is being over-blown. I don't agree.
It's worth noting that the minister in charge of the safety of the country’s food supply thinks that the deaths of people due to unsafe food is a joking matter. There were about 30 people on that conference call, it wasn’t a private aside, he knew a lot of people were listening and he thought it was fine to joke about people dying.
Family members of people who died don’t think it was funny. The daughter of one victim called the comments “hurtful” and “disrespectful”: http://watch.ctv.ca/news/election-2008/ritz-under-fire/#clip93578
This is what the phrase “adding insult to injury” means.
Coming on the same day as the CMAJ editorial that puts the responsibility for the listeriosis deaths squarely in the lap of the federal government, it is legitimately big news.
If family is everything, why not show some respect for the families who have lost loved ones? And why not some respect for families who have to feed their kids, their elders, family members with other medical conditions who are particularly vulnerable to listeriosis?
And how can the country have confidence in a minister who takes no responsibility for and doesn’t understand the seriousness of one of his core files - food safety?
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1 comment:
I suppose this is why Harper muzzles his ministers. If he doesn't, they'll speak.
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