Something to take your mind off the markets.
National Post
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Presented by
Wisecracker Ritz missing in action
Coached in the fine art of saying nothing
Don Martin, National Post Published: Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Chris Wattie/Reuters
The minister of artful dodging moved to exit stage left, shaking hands as he edged toward reporters anxiously waiting for his first campaign comments on the worst food poisoning outbreak in Canadian history.
Oh, but that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is such a tease. As he reached the edge of the stage with television camera lights firing up and boom mikes closing in, he abruptly turned on his scruffy shoes and dashed for an emergency exit, disappearing into a waiting car and roaring off ahead of the pursuing journalistic mob.
The death toll is now 19 in the listeriosis outbreak in Maple Leaf Foods' products, yet the Cabinet minister tagged to take the heat for food safety has yet to publicly answer a question on the tragedy since the election was called on Sept. 7.
His only comments have been a PMO-written late-night apology for his "death of a thousand cold cuts" crack that he read with wide eyes before dashing back to his office, no questions please.
He hasn't even gone public in his western Saskatchewan riding, where repeated attempts for comment by regional and local newspapers have been ignored or referred to the department for a news release response.
Since he last answered a query on the tragedy, it has claimed six more victims and details of his infamous cold-cuts conference call have emerged, a chat so fixated on political appearances over publicconsequences that disgusted bureaucrats leaked the conversation almost verbatim.
And as The Canadian Press has also reported, the blank look on Mr. Ritz's face at earlier news conferences was not an act. In the immediate aftermath of the outbreak, he'd been ordered by the PMO into the media fray without any current information on the file and unaware that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had announced an investigation into the mess.
In other words, the last time Mr. Ritz said anything about the greatest tragedy his government has faced in its rookie term his views were delivered from a position of blind ignorance -- and he's had nothing more to say since.
The surfacing of this missing and mum minister explains why so many media attended what would have been an obscure forum sponsored by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture yesterday.
Incredibly, Mr. Ritz stood at a podium for two hours and refused to utter the dreaded word "listeriosis" or mention the public deaths under his watch, even when the topic of food safety was up for debate.
I've seen plenty of forums after 30 years of covering politics, but never a minister so tightly scripted on topic evasion or intensely coached in the fine art of saying nothing.
It's entirely possible Mr. Ritz is the wrong guy to handle the pressure of this crisis. He was, after all, accidentally elevated into Cabinet a year ago after Saskatchewan's only Cabinet representative announced her retirement.
If he's too out of his depth to answer public questions, why not hand the file to Health Minister Tony Clement, who did so well as Ontario's health minister during the SARS outbreak?
Why would a PMO that keeps a tight leash on every minister's whereabouts allow Mr. Clement, who has been missing in action federally, to attend the Democratic presidential nomination convention just as the outbreak was going public?
This isn't like the Walkerton E. coli water contamination crisis, which took a public inquiry to untangle the lines of responsibility for seven deaths. The inspection of food is an exclusive federal responsibility that features a sprawling bureaucracy called the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with 6,294 employees tucked inside a $380-million budget.
OK, keeping local candidates under wraps is smart strategy by the Harper government. They should obviously appear at local forums and debates but, frankly, to throw a neophyte hopeful into a national media scrum is like dumping raw meat into a tank of starving sharks.
But a federal minister of the Crown comes with different obligations that do not end with the dropping of a writ.
He has to be careful, sure. The legal vultures are circling with class-action lawsuits. Ministerial comments must be measured lest they expose the government to claims for compensation.
Yet for all the public empathy Mr. Ritz showed Canada's listeriosis victims yesterday, he could've been discussing an outbreak of bovine ear ticks.
The Conservative mantra through the past three campaigns insisted that governments must be held to public account for their actions. The runaway behaviour by Gerry Ritz is a blatant abdication of ministerial accountability, the worst kind of broken promise.
dmartin@nationalpost.com
National Post
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Presented by
Wisecracker Ritz missing in action
Coached in the fine art of saying nothing
Don Martin, National Post Published: Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Chris Wattie/Reuters
The minister of artful dodging moved to exit stage left, shaking hands as he edged toward reporters anxiously waiting for his first campaign comments on the worst food poisoning outbreak in Canadian history.
Oh, but that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is such a tease. As he reached the edge of the stage with television camera lights firing up and boom mikes closing in, he abruptly turned on his scruffy shoes and dashed for an emergency exit, disappearing into a waiting car and roaring off ahead of the pursuing journalistic mob.
The death toll is now 19 in the listeriosis outbreak in Maple Leaf Foods' products, yet the Cabinet minister tagged to take the heat for food safety has yet to publicly answer a question on the tragedy since the election was called on Sept. 7.
His only comments have been a PMO-written late-night apology for his "death of a thousand cold cuts" crack that he read with wide eyes before dashing back to his office, no questions please.
He hasn't even gone public in his western Saskatchewan riding, where repeated attempts for comment by regional and local newspapers have been ignored or referred to the department for a news release response.
Since he last answered a query on the tragedy, it has claimed six more victims and details of his infamous cold-cuts conference call have emerged, a chat so fixated on political appearances over publicconsequences that disgusted bureaucrats leaked the conversation almost verbatim.
And as The Canadian Press has also reported, the blank look on Mr. Ritz's face at earlier news conferences was not an act. In the immediate aftermath of the outbreak, he'd been ordered by the PMO into the media fray without any current information on the file and unaware that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had announced an investigation into the mess.
In other words, the last time Mr. Ritz said anything about the greatest tragedy his government has faced in its rookie term his views were delivered from a position of blind ignorance -- and he's had nothing more to say since.
The surfacing of this missing and mum minister explains why so many media attended what would have been an obscure forum sponsored by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture yesterday.
Incredibly, Mr. Ritz stood at a podium for two hours and refused to utter the dreaded word "listeriosis" or mention the public deaths under his watch, even when the topic of food safety was up for debate.
I've seen plenty of forums after 30 years of covering politics, but never a minister so tightly scripted on topic evasion or intensely coached in the fine art of saying nothing.
It's entirely possible Mr. Ritz is the wrong guy to handle the pressure of this crisis. He was, after all, accidentally elevated into Cabinet a year ago after Saskatchewan's only Cabinet representative announced her retirement.
If he's too out of his depth to answer public questions, why not hand the file to Health Minister Tony Clement, who did so well as Ontario's health minister during the SARS outbreak?
Why would a PMO that keeps a tight leash on every minister's whereabouts allow Mr. Clement, who has been missing in action federally, to attend the Democratic presidential nomination convention just as the outbreak was going public?
This isn't like the Walkerton E. coli water contamination crisis, which took a public inquiry to untangle the lines of responsibility for seven deaths. The inspection of food is an exclusive federal responsibility that features a sprawling bureaucracy called the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with 6,294 employees tucked inside a $380-million budget.
OK, keeping local candidates under wraps is smart strategy by the Harper government. They should obviously appear at local forums and debates but, frankly, to throw a neophyte hopeful into a national media scrum is like dumping raw meat into a tank of starving sharks.
But a federal minister of the Crown comes with different obligations that do not end with the dropping of a writ.
He has to be careful, sure. The legal vultures are circling with class-action lawsuits. Ministerial comments must be measured lest they expose the government to claims for compensation.
Yet for all the public empathy Mr. Ritz showed Canada's listeriosis victims yesterday, he could've been discussing an outbreak of bovine ear ticks.
The Conservative mantra through the past three campaigns insisted that governments must be held to public account for their actions. The runaway behaviour by Gerry Ritz is a blatant abdication of ministerial accountability, the worst kind of broken promise.
dmartin@nationalpost.com
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