Friday, July 20, 2012

Because Helping Canadians Stay Healthy is No Business of the Minister of Health

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq seems strangely disinterested in keeping Canadians healthy.   She has rejected the advice of her own advisory panel of food experts to renew monitoring of trans-fat levels in processed food.   Food experts informed the minister that monitoring trans-fat levels would even be a net benefit to Canadian society worth about $9-billion.

In the finest Orwellian tradition, Aglukkaq's office justified ditching trans-fat monitoring as "a time-limited initiatve that ran its course."  STFU!  Say what?   That's it?   It "ran its course"?

It's actually the  HealthMin herself who is simply running true to course.   Last fall she withdrew her support for a joint federal-provincial sodium-reduction initiative to track industry progress on salt reduction.   Aglukkaq objected to the idea of outing food companies failing to meet salt-reduction targets.   Instead she had it kicked over to the Food Expert Advisory Committee, the very same panel she just threw under the bus on trans-fat monitoring.

Rest assured, Canadians.   Your health is in the watchful hands of a shamelessly corporatist shill.

2 comments:

kootcoot said...

All of what used to be "regulatory" agencies in Canada in the new improved HarperLand(tm) have been re-purposed to protect the corporate interests of Big Oil, Big AgriBiz, Big Pharma etc. rather than the interests of the public against the greed and and disregard of our new Corporate Ruling Elite who are Slimeball Steve's real masters.

The Mound of Sound said...

It truly is breathtaking, Koot.