Dear Minister Ashfield
As the Minister in charge of wild salmon in Canada, this letter below is the best you can come up with? ISA virus is not your responsibility?
Your scientist Dr. Simon Jones found the most lethal virus (ISAv) in the most endangered
Fraser River sockeye stock (Cultus) and hid this from the $25 million inquiry into the mysterious decline in Fraser sockeye and now you hide from any responsibility for the
impact of this virus?
You do realize that the CFIA's surveillance, as a result of my test results, for this European virus is not going to look in the salmon farms, where millions of European salmon, known to carry this virus are the only possible source of European strain ISA virus in BC? And you who collect an enormous salary as Minister in charge of wild and farm salmon in BC are OK with that?
Combined with your hopes to expose our valuable fish stocks to irreparable harm to the environment they require to survive via Bill C38, this lack of any sense of responsibility to stop the viral spill into the Pacific Ocean from salmon feedlots, awards you the name the Monster of Fisheries. Are you of sound mind? How can you possibly attack the food security of this country in this manner? You are allowing these viruses to enter the human food supply.
You are threatening our ability to survive as if we can drink and eat oil, as if feedlot viruses in our food supply is safe.
Really Ashfield your answer below is beyond shameful, it is sinister. There should be a world body to control people such as yourself who oversee the destruction of the last essential food resources that the people who come after us would need to survive. I don't say this lightly when I tell you to harm the living world like this is an evil thing you are doing.
Alexandra Morton
On 2012-05-09, at 10:23 AM, XNCR, Min wrote:
Ms <
< gorbuscha@gmail.com >
Dear Ms. Morton:
Thank you for your correspondence of March 29, 2012, regarding Infectious Salmon Anaemia virus (ISAV) in British Columbia. I have also received a copy of your corresponce of April 5, 2012, addressed to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
All requests regarding ISAV, or any other reportable disease suspect findings, should be directed to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as the federal lead for investigations into these aquatic disease reports. Given that the results from any tests done on behalf of CFIA (as in this case) are the property of CFIA, the results must be released by that agency.
As your questions about your samples and their results fall under the purview of my colleague, the Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister responsible for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, I have taken the liberty of forwarding a copy of your correspondence to Minister Ritz for his consideration.
With respect to the Government of Canada's contribution to OIE, this funding was not provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). As explained by Ms. Claudia Campos, on behalf of the Director General of the OIE, in her response of April 4, 2012, financial support is not offered as an endorsement of an organizations' standards, but rather to support their work and efforts - in this case, with the objective of promoting animal health.
Since DFO has no authority over the information on the OIE website, your questions regarding the publication of test results should be redirected to the OIE.
Thank you for taking the time to write to share your concerns.
Yours sincerely,
Original Signed by
Keith Ashfield
________________________________________________________________
Ministerial Correspondence Control Unit | Unité de contrôle de la correspondance ministérielle
Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
200 Kent Street, Ottawa ON K1A 0E6 | 200, rue Kent, Ottawa (ON) K1A 0E6
min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Telephone | Téléphone 613-992-3474
Facsimile | Télécopieur 613-990-7292
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
c.c.: The Honourable Gerry Ritz, P.C., M.P.
The Honourable Don McRae, M.L.A.
Dr. Bernard Vallat
