‘Heavy handed’ approach would force inspectors into infected meat plants; Union

OTTAWA – Canada’s Agriculture Union says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will order non-meat inspectors into meat plants under threat of discipline.

The union says the agency is instructing some of its non-meat-inspection staff to train up to be deployed to meat slaughter plants that have seen outbreaks of COVID-19.

Working conditions in the plants are a provincial responsibility but the federal inspectors are there to make sure the food they produce is safe for consumers.

A wave of COVID-19 infections has hit meat-packing plants across the country.