H/t Marry Ellen Davis
Friday, February 13, 2015
The Harper Attack On The Environment - Part Two
Continuing the series I started the other day, here is another excerpt from Science Under Attack, a chapter in Elizabeth May's memoir Who We Are.
Much of that chapter is devoted to the science of climate change, a science that, although constantly under attack by the ignorant and the well-funded climate-change denial industry, is essentially irrefutable. The foundation of its credibility, of course, is research. It is that research that the Harper regime has been systematically hobbling since it came to office:
March 2012 marked the end of all funding for the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (now the Canadian Climate Forum). The funds put in place in 2000, $110 million over ten years for autonomous research funding in Canada's major universities, had been spend expanding our understanding of the climate crisis in its multi-faceted disciplines of inquiry.
As reported in The Star at the time of its closure,
the Harper government promised a new program to replace the foundation. It committed itself to delivering $35 million to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada over five years...But, for reasons that were never explained, that funding never materialized. The result?
The ensuing funding gap has caused many university-based climate and atmospheric science activities to collapse. With scientists already reeling from draconian cuts to Environment Canada, widespread layoff notices have resulted in a brain drain the like of which has not been seen for a generation. Rather than “attracting world-leading talent,” Canada is quickly divesting itself of its best and brightest.Stay tuned for the next installment on the Harper wrecking crew.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
On The Prospects Of Political Probity
Anyone who follows politics on a regular basis cannot help but be cynical. Cynical about politicians' motives. Cynical about political rhetoric. Cynical about, well, just about anything that comes out of our overlords' mouths. Despite that, many voters soldier on in the hope that maybe something they say they will actually mean.
Well, a new website offers something other than blind faith to sustain us. Called FactsCan, this nascent site, which is just completing a crowdfunding campaign, describes itself as a nonpartisan fact-checking site on Canadian politics that will be fact-checking the 2015 federal election.
The CBC reports the following:
According to co-founder Dana Wagner, who also works as a researcher at Ryerson University in Toronto, the team behind the site wants to help voters "separate out the truth from spin, distortion, omission, error and lies."
"Our goal is to enable Canadians to critically engage in political-speak, and to encourage politicians to be honest and accurate with their words".
A quick check of their website confirms that FactsCan is indeed non-partisan. Already caught in false statements are Stephen Harper (no surprise there), Thomas Mulcair, Elizabeth May, and yes, Stephen Harper yet again.
Nothing yet on Justin Trudeau, but that is likely because he tends to deals in platitudes more than policies in his pronouncements.
For those interested in a closer involvement with the organization, there are opportunities for volunteering and donations. You can also 'like' its Facebook page.
One hopes that news of this site will be distributed broadly. Anything that offers the hope of injecting even a modicum of probity into the behaviour of current and future office-holders deserves our full support.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Are Americans Ever Embarrassed?
I know I would be if this kind of regular and much-watched commentary portrayed my nation as so egregiously stupid:
The Harper Attack On The Environment - Part One
I am currently reading Elizabeth May's Who We Are: Reflection On My Life And Canada, a political memoir in which her love for her adopted country, Canada, is apparent on each page.
Since we are now in an election year, I believe it incumbent upon all of us to remind as many as possible of the terrible record of the Harper rule these past nine years, a record that should alarm everyone for so many, many reasons. To this end I plan to regularly post small excerpts from May's chapter entitled Science Under Attack. Although most of what I will use is likely well-known to progressives, the abuses of the regime are so numerous that it is sometimes hard to recall all of them. Hence, this ready reference. As well, each post will include some relevant links.
The Attack Begins In Earnest
The position of science advisor to the prime minister was eliminated in 2008. By 2012, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) was also eliminated...it was the last governmental advisory body on science, nature, or sustainable economics. Ironically, after Brian Mulroney established the NRTEE, its existence was used as an excuse to eliminate the Science Council, the Canadian Environmental Advisory Council, and the Economic Council. When Harper killed the NRTEE, his environment minister, Peter Kent, said it had been rendered unnecessary by the advent of the internet.
There is, of course, much, much more to come.
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