Saturday, July 20, 2019

The Real Horror Of Andrew Scheer's War On The Food Guide



It's been two days since Andrew Scheer appeared before a Dairy Farmers of Canada convention in Saskatoon, declared war on Canada's Food Guide.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says the new version of Canada's Food Guide is 'not based on sound science,' will hurt the dairy industry, and would be reviewed if he becomes prime minister.

And suggested that he knew more than scientists, as only Canada's would be Trump could.

Or as only a Con clown could...



Now the scientists are fighting back, making it clear that they are not impressed. 

“It’s irresponsible of him,” said Mary L’Abbé, director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Nutrition Policy for Chronic Disease Prevention. 

“This was done based on the huge body of evidence that’s clearly well-documented,” said Dr. L’Abbé, who is also a professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Toronto. “What does he want it based on? Not evidence? Lobbying?”


And calling his claim that chocolate milk saved his son's life, ignorant and terrifying.

Dr. L’Abbé called Mr. Scheer’s comment about chocolate milk “disingenuous.” One 500 mL container of chocolate milk contains 50 grams of sugar. Of that, she said 28 grams is added sugar – nearly as much sugar as a Mars bar.

Yoni Freedhoff, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa and director of the Bariatric Medical Institute, described the chocolate milk comment as “terrifying." 

 “It really is a disconcerting thing to see these comments made by a potential future prime minister of Canada, on a national stage,” he said.

But then nobody should be surprised, when Scheer is just playing cheap politics

Canada finally got an official food guide earlier this year that’s guided as much as possible by science, not lobbying by various factions of the food industry. Now Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer seems determined to undo the good work that went into the latest version of Canada’s Food Guide, which Health Canada issued in January.

If there’s a more blatant example of a Canadian politician pandering to an interest group in his search for votes, we’d like to see it.

For Weak Andy Scheer is a tool of the dairy lobby. The powerful lobby whose support at the Con convention proved decisive in his narrow victory over Maxime Bernier.  

And he is clearly hoping they will help him again...



So he will put the interests of Big Milk or Big Oil before the health and safety of the population.



That's the real horror of this latest episode in the political career of the VERY weird and morally challenged Andrew Scheer. 

And it couldn't be more disgusting or more criminal.

For let there be absolutely no doubt this is criminal:

Scheer also vowed, to large applause, never to force food manufacturers to have front-of-package labelling on their products. Health Canada is proposing to require all foods that have high sodium, sugar and/or saturated fat content to include warning labels about those items on the customer-facing side of their packaging.

Sabotaging attempts to warn the population about high levels of sodium, sugar, and saturated fats, when we know that unhealthy diets contribute to the premature deaths of millions of Canadians, is simply beyond the pale.

But again, as Justin Trudeau pointed out yesterday, the Con war on science is nothing new.

We've seen it all before, and if the Cons are elected we'll see it all again.

They really are too dangerous to govern this country.

And must be shunned by all decent Canadians... 

12 comments:

Jackie Blue said...

Simon, what's your take on "Gerry-gate"? The Cons are trying to drag the fake scandal into the spotlight again and I'm worried they'll have another Hillary's Emails line of attack to use as a weapon all the way to October. They're signal-boosting this crap with their bot farms, now it's Butts Must Go along with Trudeau Must Go and other recycled hashtags from the spring. Along with juvenile, homophobic and vulgar memes surrounding Gerry's (unfortunate) surname. It won't be long before the Con media joins in to remind everyone of "Crooked Justin."

I commented at the end of the previous post that I have a sinking feeling Mario Dion will be Canada's James Comey. But the drumbeat is already starting. I'm feeling sick about this. I don't trust anyone at this point. Especially not with Wornout involved and his scorched-earth vendetta. Or Harper's international cabal and the likelihood of foreign infiltrators. It all feels like a coordinated attack. I'm scared. Trump is escalating quickly, and if Trudeau gets toppled by Clinton-style character assassination and "two-minute hate" coming from weaponized social media and the Con M$M, there won't be anywhere to go. :(

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the dairy industry is desperate or perhaps they are just letting the Liberals know that their allegiance could switch in a heart beat if their voice is ignored. Surely they are not desperate or stupid enough to support the Cons as its the age old game of welcome aboard the love boat where the well being and prosperity of every voter is of the utmost importance to us, however once the ship sets sail they are suddenly viewed as ballast to be jettisoned at the first sign of choppy waters. What some fail to understand is that its no longer a game of jumping from one ship to another in 4 years, once the Cons are in a position to toss them overboard they will have rigged the system so that rescue is impossible. Harper dabbled in it with his fair elections, anti funding, terrorist monitoring laws but his antics were relatively amateurish compared to what Trump has demonstrated is possible in a few short years. Andy seems to think he is well versed in how to free the Jolly Rodger by circumventing the nasty constitution and supreme court that kept captain Harper confined to the more traditional ports of call. Perhaps its just smoke by why give Andy's puppet masters the opportunity to try.

RT

Anonymous said...

Diabetes rates are also skyrocketing in Canada, so Scheer's irresponsible comments are even more irresponsible and dangerous. As the Star article says, Scheer needs to retract his comments and quickly before his ignorant base laps them up and start killing themselves and their children.

lagatta à montréal said...

I had a potentially lethal cow-milk allergy as a child, in the postwar years when milk was a sign of prosperity... well, along with effing cars. A teacher forced me to drink one of those little boxes of milk, and I turned bright red and was gasping for air. These allergies are much more common as one might think, especially among Asian, Indigenous American and African-origin people (I'm mostly white but had an Obama-coloured grandparent from the Caribbean, and probably some Indigenous ancestry). Actually, a MINORITY of humans worldwide are lactose-tolerant.

I've grown out of the life-threatening true allergy, but remain lactose-intolerant.

Steve said...

tax sugar water today

lagatta à montréal said...

And sugar milk! As much sugar in that brown stuff as in a cheap chocolate bar...

Anonymous said...

Scheer is such a twit. He who claims he would have negotiated a better NAFTA deal for us succumbs to the whims of a 6 year old Andy junior who will undoubtedly become a future strain on our health care system because daddy was too busy trying to win votes instead of ensuring a healthy diet for his own children. Scheer stupidity at its worst.
JD

Simon said...

Hi Jackie....I'm not worried at all by the Cons absurd attempt to revive the fake scandal. Butts did nothing wrong, the Connies are ancient history, the more they try to make it an issue the more they will hurt themselves...

Simon said...

Hi RT...The dairy industry is desperate or greedy. Dairy milk consumption is down for health reasons as well as competition from substitutes like soy milk etc. But the dairy lobby still has about $80 million a year to spend pressuring politicians, or just hyping their products, so they are a force to be reckoned with. Also they are a large special interest group in Quebec so nobody dares cross them, except for the poor loser Maxime Bernier....

Simon said...

Hi anon....I know, I have to monitor my sugar levels, so I check the sugar content on every food I buy. It's already scary how much sugar some products have, and the last thing we ne d is the idiot Scheer encouraging people to reject the new food guide and encourage people to drink as much chocolate milk as they like. I must confess that I could drink chocolate milk by the gallon, but diabetes is something all Canadians should do their best to avoid. Scheer should retract his comments but because he is such a tool of the dairy lobby he won't...

Simon said...

Hi lagatta....What a scary experience that milk allergy episode must have been. Milk should be a choice not forced on anybody. The food guide says it can be a good source of protein when consumed in moderation. But the dairy lobby isn't satisfied with that....

Simon said...

Hi JD...Well said. You would think that a man with five children would know better. But even his kids must take second place to his lust for power...