Pipeline development was ‘top of mind’ in Stephen Harper’s budget bill, say “secret” records Publish Date: 26-SEP-2012 09:46 AM Pipeline development was a “top of mind” consideration factoring into the Harper government’s regulatory reforms adopted in a 400-page piece of legislation supporting the 2012 budget, reveals an internal briefing note prepared for Environment Minister Peter Kent. Nearly one third of the budget legislation was dedicated to changing Canada’s environmental laws, offering new tools for the government to authorize water pollution, investigate environmental groups, weaken protection of endangered species, and limit public participation in consultations and reviews of proposed industrial projects.
Harper government cancels 3,000 environmental reviews on pipelines and other projects Publish Date: 23-AUG-2012 02:48 PM The Harper government’s budget legislation has forced the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to cancel nearly 3,000 screenings into potential environmental damage caused by proposed development projects across Canada, including hundreds involving a pipeline or fossil fuel energy, according to published records.
Knowing truth tougher without research: is that the PM’s objective? Publish Date: 24-JUL-2012 05:18 AM Earlier this month research scientists in lab coats held a protest lab on Parliament Hill. Their demonstration included a symbolic funeral procession for ‘evidence’ amid Conservative cuts to research funding and federal in-house research capacity. The protest also came on the heels of a federal budget that put the axe to the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), the First Nations Statistical Institute (FNSI) and the National Council on Welfare (NCW). Taken together, the chop to these three agencies takes just $7.5 million off the federal books – a paltry sum in relation to the value of the public goods they provided and now lost to Canada.
Hidden cost of cuts to Environment Canada Publish Date: 29-AUG-2011 03:21 PM Thomas J. Duck is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Professional Institute Launches a Survey of Federal Scientists – June 6, 2013
Publish Date: 06-JUN-2013 08:45 AM
As part of the Institute’s ongoing efforts to support the government scientists it represents and to promote the importance public science, PIPSC is now conducting a survey of all members with science-based jobs.
CAUT “Get Science Right” Campaign – April 23, 2013
Publish Date: 04-APR-2013 09:47 AM
In response to increasing concerns about the integrity and independence of scientific research, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has launched a campaign to “Get Science Right”.
Recent government cuts to Agriculture Canada could have a major global impact, particularly if the world population — and its appetite — continues to grow, said the dean of one of Canada’s top agriculture faculties. John Kennelly, dean of the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences, said the government’s decision to cut back on agricultural research comes at a time of a global food shortage.There is an international demand for more food, especially from major agriculture exporters like Canada, he said.
DFO has declined an interview request with a scientist to discuss the environmental impacts of oilsands development because it objected to a recent Postmedia News report, a federal government spokesman wrote in an email. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is one of seven federal departments and agencies under investigation by Parliament’s Information Commissioner, Suzanne Legault, over allegations that the government is “muzzling” and restricting access to government scientists.
