Welcome to election week, USA. I'm sure most of you will be focusing on it, but for those of you still interested in accountability in Canada, the listeriosis issue hasn't gone away. A story widely covered in today's papers calls for a moratorium on industry self-regulation, citing the recent events and problems with civil aviation industry self-regulation. Canadians for Accountability would like everyone to remember that Canadian Food Inspection Agency scientist Luc Pomerleau was fired for speaking to his union about this issue, and that the CFIA is still refusing to reconsider. So much for accountability and the protection of whistleblowers.

In other news, I've been informed that there is a new book out, entitled Dispersing the Fog: Inside the Secret World of Ottawa and the RCMP. It includes a chapter on Brian McAdam's Sidewinder Report, which detailed the penetration of Chinese organized crime into Canada and corruption in the Canadian foreign service. A summary of the book can be found at http://dispersingthefog.com/ ; it can be bought online from Amazon.ca or chapters.indigo.ca. I for one am looking forward to reading it.

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In This Update

Food Inspection Agency Scientists Call for End to Industry Self-regulation

Former Saskatchewan Senior Bureaucrat Murdoch Carriere Paid Out, not Fired

Dr. John O'Connor and the Oil Sands Transport Canada Failed to Regulate Tall Ships, Say Veteran Sailors B.C. Agrologists being "muzzled"

Food Inspection Agency Scientists Call for End to Industry Self-regulation

Delay food inspection deregulation, union urges

National Post, November 3, 2008

Summary: Following the listeriosis crisis, the union representing scientists working for the federal government is calling for an immediate moratorium on the deregulation of food inspection in Canada.

Former Saskatchewan Senior Bureaucrat Murdoch Carriere Paid Out, not Fired

Former government manager Carriere was paid out, not fired

Regina Leader-Post, October 31, 2008

Summary: The NDP government agreed to pay former senior environment manager Murdoch Carriere $275,000 compensating him for "pain and suffering and damage to his reputation," according to a settlement agreement obtained by the Leader-Post through a Freedom of Information request.

Dr. John O'Connor and the Oil Sands

Oilsands the poster child of bad oil

Calgary Herald, November 2, 2008

Summary: Concerns about health and environmental hazards of the oil sands are beeing examined in a film. Titled Downstream, the short film focuses on the struggles of John O'Connor, the doctor who raised the alarm about what he believes to be unusually high rates of rare cancers in the Fort Chipewyan region.

Transport Canada Failed to Regulate Tall Ships, Say Veteran Sailors

Transport Canada has dragged heels regulating safety on tall ships: veteran sailors

Canadian press, November 2, 2008

Summary: Transport Canada dragged its heels for decades when it came to introducing enforceable safety regulations for tall ships, and it took the loss of Laura Gainey from the tall ship Picton Castle to get the department to finally take action, say industry veterans.

B.C. Agrologists being "muzzled"

'We're Being Muzzled' Say Top Farmland Scientists

The Tyee, November 2, 2008

Summary: Some of B.C.'s top farm scientists charge they are being "slapped down" for speaking against agricultural land being paved. Canadians for Accountability is a new organization created by a group of grassroots whistleblowers and accountability activists. Our mission is to advance integrity and accountability and to help and advocate for whistleblowers in all parts of our society. We also hope to create a sense of community to counteract the isolation so many whistleblowers feel after coming forward for the public good.

Created to address the gap between personal ethics and organizational reprisal, Canadians for Accountability was incorporated in June, 2008, with Allan Cutler as founding President. Allan was the whistleblower who, at great personal risk, exposed the Sponsorship Scandal.