Round Table wth RItz

[kato]

Hey Randy, I was wondering where you'd got to. ;-) Bout time we heard from you.

That being said, it was a lot more than a hiccup for us too. It cost us the next generation on this farm. It cost us a good chunk of money, and it pretty much cost us ten years. We can't get the sons back on the farm, or the ten years back, but a little cash would sure help out the retirement.

It's within the power of Mr.Ritz and his boss to make this happen. All he has to do is allow the class action suit to go to the mediator.

[grassfarmer]

Randy you forget that you are relative newbies to BSE
in Canada. I met Mark twice in Canada but was
following his stuff right through the 90s in the UK.

[rkaiser]

The minor hiccup I am referring to is the human suffering bullshit that BSE was supposed to cause.
With no proof of any single case of human death caused by eating a BSE cow, how is hiccup not the word.

On the producer side - you re right Kato, a lot more than hiccups and how many deaths from suicide in both Canada and Great Britain.

All in Cameron's pile of documents I am sure.

As for giving up ARSG - can't blame you. Not the case for this man however. The beef industry will be my life til the day that the Universe decides to bring me back as a budgie in my next life.

[ASRG]

We all get old. We all quit one way or the other.
Prior to the BSE gong show I thought my government actually was fair and gave a rip about it's citizens! I was a true believer in Canada......okay, okay....I was pretty naive!
BSE changed me. It changed how I viewed the Canadian government and Canada!
In my opinion the Canadian government ruined the cattle industry. They ended it for a lot of cattle producers and they destroyed the future for a lot of kids who would have raised cattle!
And then these paper pushing wonders just try to shirk any and all responsibility! No consequences....no one went down the road....no one suffered one red cent!
They killed the future for a lot of people....in a really fair world they would be lined up against the wall and shot.

[kato]

This morning the news said that Mr Ritz was going to make a big announcement today about animal health and something good for the economy.

Why was my first thought. "I wonder how much we're going to have to pay this time?"

Must hold back the cynicism... must hold back the cynicism... must hold back... ah forget it. It's more likely to be bad news for cattle producers than good...

Please prove me wrong..

And Randy.. don't come back as a budgie. They only live about 7 years. ;-) That's not enough time to get up to an acceptable amount of mischief.

[cpallett]

Kato,

Like your first three questions. FYI at our meeting with the Judge on 20 December (Madam Justice Lax is back!) Her Honour asked counsel for the Feds and I to suggest the names of some of Her Honour's colleagues that we would consider an acceptable mediator. Counsel for the Feds said she would have to seek instructions. I expect the Feds to agree to mediation right after the Leafs win the Cup.

GF,

Facts are good. Let's try some, just for a change of pace. The Salers (note the 's' on both ends) that was the first cow diagnosed with BSE in Canada in December 1993 was born in August 1986 and imported into Canada in January 1987. Given that Dr. John Wilesmith did not deliver his report on BSE to the MAFF (Ministry of Fisheries and Food) until 1988, anyone foolish enough to blame the Canadian importer for failing to consider the BSE implications has his head firmly placed a long way up his own posterior. The importation of British cattle into Canada was banned in February 1990. The 196 British cattle that had been imported into Canada between 1982 and 1989 were placed by Agriculture Canada in a monitoring program in April 1990.

In the winter of 1993/94 when the particular British (actually a Norman embryonic implant) Salers (eartag ACEB13) was diagnosed with BSE the folks at Agriculture Canada removed their own heads from similar locations previously described and realized that fully 80 of the British imports had entered the animal food chain in Canada since April 1990 (oops). 68 to routine slaughter and 12 into the rendering vats whole as deadstock.

Having done a risk assessment that identified the probability that one or more of these 80 animals had BSE at 100%, the good folks at Agriculture Canada then failed to do a few things, some of which were legal requirements of their jobs.

1. They failed to inform the Minister of Agriculture.
2. They failed to inform the inspectors at federal abattoirs, or even to educate them on signs and symptoms of BSE.
3. They failed to inform the renderers and feed manufacturers (who might have chosen to stop putting ruminant MBM into calf starter).
4. They failed to require calf starter to be labelled to indicate whether it contained ruminant MBM.
5. They did order the remaining British imports destroyed, although two of the birth cohorts of the aforementioned Salers (hand fed the same calf starter)had already been rendered. They even got Ben Thorlakson (then President of the CCA) to help them out with a couple of producers who were holding out for unreasonable compensation. They did not, however, tell Ben or any other producer about the 80 British animals already in the system.

That may work for you as bad breaks or just the way it is, but in this country we call that misfeasance in public office. It is against the law. There was none of that in Britain where the government actually did a pretty good job in the difficult circumstances they had to work with.

As for causation, the scientific evidence is overwhelming. Given that the standard of proof is 'more likely than not', we have that one covered thanks.

Now as for Minister Ritz, the judge wants a mediation and the producers want a mediation. The folks who lied to the Minister don't want a mediation. Not rocket science.

If the mediator tells us to pack our bags, we're gone. What is the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food afraid of? The truth? See John 8:32

[burnt]

An appropriate tune for this court and oh my gosh I hope it's safe - it's also from Britain -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9aju9u2KB4

[kato]

I love that song! Better go see if it's on Itunes. Hope this works. It's a version with the lyrics.

[kato]

Mr. P. That's good news. All I can say is "Go Leafs Go!" ha ha ha.

burnt.. being one who has authority issues, this is the song that goes through my h

[burnt]

Kato, if that drummer ain't Ringo, it's his clone!

But yeah that's the attitude - perfecho, are you still reading here?