Sunday, February 15, 2009

Being Withheld in the Justice System

Staff Reporter

Thousands of pages of documents detailing the federal government's handling of this summer's listeria outbreak are being withheld.

The Star and the CBC are seeking the records, which include emails sent between officials with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Maple Leaf Foods and the City of Toronto, through an access to information request.

The CFIA has imposed extensions of a year or more on top of the normal 30-day deadline for responding to such requests.

Citing the sheer volume of documents requested, the department says it is short-staffed and can't produce the information any faster.

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