>> In my experience, government inspection services tend to become
corrupt and deliberately incompetent unless carefully overseen by
persons of unquestioned integrity and staffed by honest and fearless
inspectors.
> Amen to that. From first hand experience, I can testify to that. By
the way, Diogenes is still out there somewhere, looking for that honest man
Any organization charged with oversight of a large industry has a
difficult task. We have some examples of competent and effective
inspection, and we have examples of where a lot of money is spent and
people appear to be busy and engaged, but the results show us that it
was a sham.
Our Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is once again a case in
point. Recent events caught them with their pants down -- again. To
some of us this was no surprise and we figure it is bound to happen
repeatedly until heads roll. A lot of heads IMO.
The giant international recall of beef from the Brooks Alberta plant is
a direct result -- IMO -- of an inept CFIA management and lack of
direction in CFIA. Given the scope of the problems, it is truly hard to
believe that there was _any _competent and vigilant oversight at all at
that plant. We've had two such episodes in Canada in recent memory.
Many can and will blame this on government cuts, but when any
bureaucracy is faced with cuts, the response is to cut back on the front
line where the real work is done and defend the hierarchy and the upper
echelons from any effects. I'm guessing that is what happened here.
Was this deliberate? I hope not, and I hope the repercussions go right
to the top.
I mention CFIA here on BEE-L because CFIA have oversight over our
Canadian honey industry and IMO, have little understanding of it.
I've had contact with the CFIA at various levels over the years, in
various functions from industry rep to producer, and although there may
be many competent and motivated individuals in the agency, they are
hamstrung by management and demoralized by lack of direction and the
very nature of the job.
When we invited CFIA personnel to speak at our meetings and consult with
us in open session, they simply stood up at the mic and went into a
monologue about the structure of the organization or complained about
rust on barrels. That neatly ran out the clock and allowed them to
escape as a bewildered audience sat wondering what happened. They want
to keep their jobs. Don't rock the boat is the prime directive at CFIA,
as far as I can tell.
Inspection, by its very nature is certain to have failures and attempts
at bribery and political interference. The push-pull between the desire
to do a good and relevant inspection and the desire to keep one's job
can lead to cynicism and token effort if employees are not supported in
performing their jobs, and are not encouraged to provide intelligent
feedback back up through the organization.
Sunlight is a great disinfectant and the only way that inspection
schemes can be expected to be honest is where everything is open, above
board, and realistic. All parties must be involved, enthused and see
the reason behind the procedures and the benefits, plus be protected
from capricious enforcement and protected from unnecessarily onerous
burdens.
Without co-operation, open and honest consultation and commitment by all
parties, money is wasted, the public is endangered and career employees
are hampered from performing their tasks properly.
I could write a lot more about this, but I am out of time and hope
others will (dare) offer their insights.
I'm out of the line of fire (I think) and can speak freely, but many are
in fear of retribution should they dare speak up.
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