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“The information I had as of this morning was that the total number of people who were impacted was not significant enough to impact the operations of the plant, so I can’t comment on the decision to shut that down,” Hinshaw said.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Friday he had been told the CFIA believed the plant had been adequately cleaned and all necessary protocol had been followed. However, he said the reason for the plant’s continued closure was CFIA inspectors had refused to return to the facility.

In a written statement, CFIA confirmed it did not provide inspection services on Friday after it learned of the COVID-19 case.

“CFIA staff did not provide slaughter inspection services on March 27 while appropriate health risk assessments are being conducted,” the statement read.

“The CFIA is working closely with the company to support the resumption of slaughter activities as quickly as possible.”

Kenney said the province has requested to substitute Alberta inspectors into its meat-packing plants. Federally regulated slaughter plants are not allowed to operate without inspectors present.

“We also have concerns about a shortage of CFIA inspectors at some of the other meat-packing plants in Alberta,” Kenney said. “We’re seeing a huge increase in demand for those products and we can’t have the CFIA essentially impairing our entire livestock industry by people refusing to go on the job.”

The premier also slammed Service Canada after reports of workers refusing to attend work.