CFIA head exits early

Carole Swan, the head of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, announced Tuesday that she’ll be leaving her post next week.

Swan was appointed to the post in 2007 and was scheduled to lead the agency for up to five years. Her last day is June 30.

She was in charge during the listeriosis outbreak of August 2008.

After the outbreak, among the independent investigation’s findings was weak leadership at the federal level, including CFIA.

Sheila Weatherill, independent investigator, also pointed to the problem of frequent turnover of successive presidents at the agency.

Since the agency’s creation in 1997, no president has stayed for a full five years; and in the past 12 years, there have been five different presidents.