OTTAWA - Stephen Harper brushed aside demands that he fire his agriculture minister Thursday as he questioned the priorities of the government bureaucrats who leaked jokes made by Gerry Ritz at the height of the listeriosis outbreak.
With the Conservative leader's rivals clamouring for Ritz's ouster, Harper instead rushed to his defence, pointing an accusatory finger at those who alerted the media to the minister's ill-timed gallows humour.
"The real question was making sure everybody was doing their job... and certainly I would like to know that, and that alone, was the priority of officials,"
Harper said.
"I'm obviously disappointed that some have some other priorities."
The Conservatives were back doing damage control Thursday after The Canadian Press revealed jokes Ritz made during an Aug. 30 conference call with scientists and officials at the height of a deadly listeriosis outbreak.
Nine people had died and dozens of others had fallen ill at the time of the call, during which Ritz called the outbreak "a death by a thousand cuts - or should I say cold cuts."
When told about a new death in Prince Edward Island, he blurted: "Please tell me it's Wayne Easter," referring to the Liberal agriculture critic.
The outbreak, which has been linked to tainted meat produced by Maple Leaf Foods, has killed 17 people to date.
At the time of the call Ritz had been doing a good job handling the crisis and was clearly under a lot of pressure, Harper said.
"It obviously was an inappropriate joke - the minister was under a lot of stress."
The Conservative leader's attempt to snuff out the controversy sparked another minor brushfire, however, as the Liberal campaign seized on Harper's attempt to shift the blame to officials.
"The prime minister could have risen to a true test of leadership today by choosing to stand by the families who are still struggling through this crisis," Easter said.
"Incredibly, the prime minister has dug himself in deeper by trying to cast blame on hard-working bureaucrats, suggesting that they are at fault for Mr. Ritz's scandalous comments coming to light."
Another embarrassing blunder emerged Thursday amid reports that a member of Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon's staff made a racist slur against native protesters an event in the minister's riding.
Cannon aide Darlene Lannigan told the protesters the minister would agree to meet with them - if they promised to behave and remain sober.
Full story:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/indepth/id_tories/s/capress/080918/national/fedelxn_main
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