Monday 17 September 2012

Cuts to the environment and science budgets are the sign of the future



Having been an elementary teacher, I know the importance of teaching using an holistic approach. My curriculum included Music - Art - Dance - Drama (MADD!) as well as language arts, math, science, integrating all this with computers and technology. Elementary teachers understand the balance that is necessary in this world. It is important to balance science, information, and environmental issues, with human's need to change the world around us. What worries me is the government's move to save money, at the cost of science and nature
Climate change - no policy.
Cutting the long-form census which provided information for non-profits who care for others.

Here is a long article worth reading:

1984 in 2012 – The Assault on Reason

Notes for Remarks to Carleton University – September 5, 2012
By Allan R. Gregg
Researcher, and pollster, Allan Greg's key points: the cuts to science and the environment made by our PM Harper are crippling us.


  • Cuts at Stats Canada – 50% of employees were warned that their jobs were at risk. (Why do we data to make informed decisions?!)
  • 20% of the workforce at the Library and Archives of Canada put on notice.
  • CBC was told that it could live with a 10% reduction in their budgetary allocation.
  • In 2014, Parks Canada will receive $29-million less from federal coffers than it did last year. Some parks will be open for shorter seasons and more than 600 staff will lose their jobs. Many of those who have received notices are scientists.
  •  30% of the operating budget of Parks Canada was cut, eliminating 638 positions; 70% of whom would be scientists and social scientists. 
  • The National Roundtable on the Environment, the First Nations Statistical Institute: the National Council on Welfare and the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science, all were cut saving $7.5 million.
  • The Experimental Lakes Area, a research station that produced critical evidence on acid rain 3 decades ago and groundbreaking research on water quality, is to be shut down. Savings? $2 million. The northernmost lab in Eureka, Nunavut, awaits the same fate.
  • The unit in charge of monitoring emissions from power plants, furnaces, boiler and other sources is to be abolished in order to save $600,000.
  • Against the advice of 625 fisheries scientists and four former federal Fisheries Ministers – saying it is scientifically impossible to do — regulatory oversight of the fisheries was limited to stock that are of “human value”. Has PM Harper not heard about ecosystems and the cycle of life?
  • These amendments was bundled in with 68 other laws into one Budget Bill, so that – using the power of majority government – no single item could be opposed or revoked without defeating the government and calling another election.
BUT: Canada Revenue Agency received an $8 million increase in its budget to investigate the political activity of not-for-profit and charitable organizations. What is with this?
Resources
For the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines go to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment :
Go to "CEQG Online" to view all current guidelines for air, water, soil, sediment and tissue residue.
When a new guideline is approved it will be posted to "CEQG Online" where users can print the ones they want.
For the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines Summary Table:

3 comments:

Powell River Books said...

When I taught kindergarten and first grade (now you can tell I was a teacher in the States?), I loved to use science and social studies themes to weave together my curriculum. I would hate to have time for those content areas reduced or eliminated. - Margy

Cloudia said...

going on all over, I'm afraid, Jenn




Wishing You a happy week,
with Aloha from Honolulu
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EG CameraGirl said...

Thank you for keeping us informed, Jenn. The more we voters are informed, the better. :)