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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.

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.

Le Canada a encore du chemin à faire pour se classer parmi les leaders mondiaux de la science et de la technologie, selon le Conseil des sciences, de la technologie et de l’innovation, qui a publié mardi son 3e rapport sur le sujet depuis 2008. Notamment, les entreprises canadiennes devraient faire de plus grands efforts : investir davantage dans les technologies de l’information, miser sur la recherche et le développement et engager des titulaires de doctorat, propose le conseil. Le rendement des entreprises « est décevant », écrit le conseil. Le Canada ne devrait pas « se satisfaire du statu quo ni de progrès graduels », selon les auteurs du rapport État des lieux en 2012. Les dépenses en recherche et développement des entreprises canadiennes « ont diminué de façon presque constante dans les dernières années », selon le rapport, ce qui classe le Canada en milieu de peloton des pays membres de l’OCDE.

Federal Science and Technology Minister Gary Goodyear touted the Harper government’s track record in support of discovery research Tuesday, coinciding with new warnings from a national advisory panel that Canada was treading water on research and innovation. The report by the Science, Technology and Innovation Council told the government that Canada was losing ground to other countries on five key indicators, including overall research funding when compared to the size of the economy. “Canada continues to face challenges in deploying our talent to full advantage to drive discovery and commercialization,” said the report released by the council of 18 representatives from the business, research, education and government communities. “On this front, Canada’s performance continues to be disappointing on two of the most telling indicators of a country’s ability to deploy its innovation talent to best advantage: the share of human resources in science and technology, and the proportion of researchers employed in the private and public sectors.”

Canada's northernmost research lab won't have to shut down after all and will be able to resume year-round operations, with the help of a new grant from the federal government. The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut, will receive $5 million over five years, Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear announced Friday

While the specific impacts of the federal government's announcement that some 700 employees may lose their jobs at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada labs and farms remain unknown, there should be no illusion that Saskatchewan will escape unscathed. Saskatoon continues to host a major Agriculture Canada research facility on the university campus, but it isn't only through the potential loss of jobs that the pain will be felt. For more than 126 years, Agriculture Canada research has helped to make Canada, and Saskatchewan in particular, among the world's most important food-producing regions.

Statistics Canada's National Household Survey, hot off the press, is chock-a-block with intriguing information about Canada's evolving character.

"Science powers commerce," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said recently.

The National Research Council, which gave the country canola and the atomic clock, will now be taking its scientific cues from Canadian industry as part of a makeover of the country’s flagship research labs. The overhaul, quietly begun two years ago and formally unveiled Tuesday, means the 97-year-old NRC will focus on a clutch of large-scale, business-driven research projects at the expense of the basic science that was once at its core. The Conservative government says it wants to leverage the NRC’s world-class resources – everything from wind tunnels and ice tanks to high-powered microscopes – to help reverse the country’s chronically lagging innovation performance.

He's a media darling, the kids love him and face it ... space travel looks pretty appealing with Commander Chris Hadfield checking in, tweeting, floating about and sharing his space chores. But while he's up there, the agency that put him there is out of orbit. The Canadian Space Agency faces serious cuts, its leadership is unexpectedly vacant and its goals and future are unclear. Is it rocket science or politics?

Earlier this week, our Minister for Natural Resources, the Hon. Joe Oliver, went to Washington on what the Canadian media mistakenly insists on calling a "charm offensive."

Retired federal scientist Marley Waiser said the government put up bureaucratic roadblocks that prevented her from speaking to the media about her research. (CBC)

En muselant les scientifiques à l'emploi du gouvernement, Stephen Harper ne s'attaque pas à «la science», comme le prétendent ses détracteurs. Il poursuit plutôt à chasser les contre-pouvoirs qui limitent son contrôle obsessionnel de l'État... Il suffit en effet de jeter un coup d'oeil aux budgets gouvernementaux accordés à l'ensemble des fonctions scientifiques fédérales pour constater que les conservateurs sont loin de «tourner le dos à la science», comme on le leur reproche. Lorsque Stephen Harper a pris le pouvoir en 2006, les ministères et organismes fédéraux avaient accès à un budget de 9,5 milliards$ pour leurs activités scientifiques et technologiques. Quatre ans plus tard, cette même enveloppe dépassait les 12 milliards$, une hausse importante de 26%.

Dure semaine pour la science au Canada. La Table ronde nationale sur l’environnement et l’économie a fermé ses portes. Ces fermetures s’ajoutent à celles de laboratoires, de stations de recherche et d’autres organismes scientifiques fédéraux, presque tous voués à la recherche sur l’environnement, les changements climatiques, les pêches et ainsi de suite. D’autres, sans disparaître, ont dû réduire leurs activités, abandonner certaines recherches ou enquêtes, Statistique Canada en étant un bon exemple. Comme si cela n’était pas suffisant, le gouvernement fédéral s’échine à museler ses propres scientifiques, un problème que la commissaire à l’information Suzanne Legault prend assez au sérieux pour instituer une enquête. Comment, après tout cela, ne pas conclure que ce gouvernement a une dent contre la science ?

Journalists say the rules prevent scientists talking about publicly-funded research

Restructuring CIDA, and giving it the formal status within government that it never really had, is a positive step. But what Canadians really need to focus upon are the dramatic changes to the purpose and the mandate of Canada’s foreign-assistance program. The deep cuts that the government has made in development assistance have already had a major impact on Canada’s reputation as a leader in the international-development community. Now, the commercialization of our development funding further discredits Canada’s commitment to supporting the progress of developing countries. This commitment has long won us the respect of the international community and a relationship of trust and confidence with developing countries for which Canadians can take pride.

La commissaire à l'information a accepté d'ouvrir une enquête sur les allégations de scientifiques fédéraux qui se disent muselés par le gouvernement canadien. Le bureau de la commissaire dit avoir envoyé un résumé de la plainte aux différentes institutions publiques concernées, soit : • Environnement Canada • Pêches et Océans Canada • Ressources naturelles Canada • Le Conseil national de recherches Canada • L'Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments

On Easter Monday, MPs Michelle Rempel, Kennedy Stewart and Kirsty Duncan debate the investigation into whether the federal government is trying to silence its scientists

Michael Enright talks to Gordon McBean about whether Ottawa is muzzling its scientists.

Focus-group testing on what the Harper government calls its Responsible Resource Development campaign found the advertising to be light on facts but uplifting and patriotic, according to a government-commissioned study.

A bid by the federal government to impose sweeping confidentiality rules on an Arctic science project has run into serious resistance in the United States. “I’m not signing it,” said Andreas Muenchow, of the University of Delaware, who has taken issue with the wording that Canada’s Fisheries and Oceans department has proposed for the Canada-U.S. project.

Another crack has appeared in the Harper government’s surreptitious but merciless war to muzzle Canadian scientists — and just about everyone else.

Federal promises to create a network of marine protected areas are progressing at a snail’s pace, and there are fears that federal cutbacks will slow the process even further, says a report by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Coupures dans les sciences de l’environnement à Ottawa et bäillonnement des scientifiques à l’emploi de ce même gouvernement : deux dossiers qui risquent de rester à l’horizon 2013

On the first front, omnibus budget bills have imposed layoffs and severe cuts to the monitoring of waterways, fisheries and natural resource projects. In addition, the Harper government has shut down critical evidence-gathering systems like Statistics Canada’s mandatory long-form census, the world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area, the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, the First Nations Statistical Institute, and Canada’s ozone monitoring network. And they terminated centres of scientific policy advice from the National Science Advisor, and National Round Table on Environment and Economy.

Depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir du gouvernement conservateur, plusieurs de ses décisions ont suscité la grogne des scientifiques canadiens. La plus emblématique est peut-être l'abolition du questionnaire long du recensement. Discussion sur la relation houleuse entre le gouvernement Harper et le monde de la reche

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has no formal plans to consult with stakeholders on new regulations or partnerships to prevent industrial pollution in the wake of a major changes to environmental protection laws adopted last summer, says newly-released internal correspondence obtained by Postmedia News.

Budget cuts to the ozone monitoring department were $13.3m this year, the 25th anniversary of the Montreal protocol

Canada is no longer a powerhouse in environmental and natural resources science, according to a comprehensive report to be released Thursday. “The overall decline in these fields is real,” reports a blue-ribbon panel asked by the federal government to assess the state of Canada’s science and technology. It says the country continues to excel in health sciences and information and communications technologies and many other fields, but is losing ground in natural resources and environmental sciences, which were considered two of the country’s top four scientific strengths in 2006.

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.

Statistique Canada reconnaît désormais que le remplacement controversé de la version longue du formulaire de recensement a causé certains problèmes. Près de 12 % des municipalités ont eu des taux de réponse inférieurs à 50 %, qui est le niveau considéré comme optimal. La plupart des municipalités dans lesquelles les taux de réponse sont bas sont de petite taille, et cela pourrait nuire à la fiabilité des résultats d'un point de vue local. Comme l'explique Ivan Fellegi, qui a été statisticien en chef à Statistique Canada jusqu'à 2008, le but du recensement n'est pas d'obtenir les données pour la grande région de Toronto, par exemple, mais bien de récolter des informations à propos des petites localités. Un fort taux de réponse au recensement est essentiel afin de tirer des conclusions qui ne sont pas biaisées. (…)

The response rate to Statistics Canada's replacement for the cancelled long-form census varies wildly from community to community, information released Monday shows. A almost 12 per cent of communities had response rates that fall below the optimal 50 per cent level. Most of those communities with low response rates are small, prompting questions about how reliable the final results will be at a local level. "The reason we take the census is not to get the data for the whole of Toronto. The point is to get small-area data," said Ivan Fellegi, the chief statistician until 2008. "My whole point was, and still is, that some data will be good, some will be bad. We won't know which is which."

Atmospheric scientists from around the world are asking Environment Canada to back down from a plan that they believe would compromise ozone and radiation monitoring by putting it into the hands of an Information Technology computer expert. On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 16 signing of the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty to reduce ozone-depleting pollution in the atmosphere, the scientists said they were shocked to learn about the budget cuts and staffing changes made by the Harper government.

Santé Canada dissimule si bien les informations qu'elle recueille lors de ses inspections dans des usines de fabrication de médicaments à l'étranger que les Canadiens ne sont pas en mesure de savoir si les médicaments qu'ils consomment sont sûrs, estime le chercheur Alan Cassels de l'université Victoria, en Colombie-Britannique. Il s'inquiète également des récentes compressions dans la fonction fédérale, car elles pourraient contribuer selon lui à la réduction du nombre d'inspections au Canada et à l'étranger.

Health Canada is so secretive about its inspections of overseas drug-manufacturing plants that Canadians can't be confident their medications are safe, says a drug policy researcher. Alan Cassels of the University of Victoria said most prescription drugs are manufactured overseas but that Health Canada has released only limited information about its inspections of foreign manufacturing plants after he made numerous inquiries. However, he's also concerned that recent government layoffs mean there will be fewer Health Canada staff to conduct such inspections in or outside the country.

Le document rendu public par le ministre fédéral de l'Environnement, Peter Kent, propose des mesures moins contraignantes que celles contenues dans la version précédente, présentée l'été dernier. De Saskatoon, M. Kent a expliqué que les nouvelles usines de charbon devaient désormais produire moins de 420 tonnes de dioxyde de carbone par gigawatt-heure d'électricité produite. Dans la première version de la réglementation, cette limite était située à 375 tonnes.

Coal-fired power plants got more regulatory breathing room than expected to release greenhouse gases Wednesday, something federal Environment Minister Peter Kent says is necessary to protect Canada's power supply.

En septembre, d’autres scientifiques à l’emploi du gouvernement fédéral sont censés recevoir à leur tour la confirmation que leurs postes seront abolis. Mais il est bien difficile d’en trouver un seul qui ose en parler. « Je cours des risques si je parle aux journalistes, je n’ai pas de permission », admet Peter Ross, qui ne s’est pourtant pas privé de parler : en mai et juin, on a pu le lire et l’entendre dans plusieurs médias, francophones et anglophones. Et si les journalistes scientifiques sont nombreux à se tourner vers lui, c’est parce qu’il est à peu près le seul. (…)

Avec les coupes budgétaires dans la recherche sur les contaminants chimiques, l’avenir s’assombrit pour le suivi à long terme et la conservation des espèces marines du Saint-Laurent. Laboratoires démantelés, postes de chercheurs supprimés: depuis la fin 2011, le gouvernement fédéral effectue des coupes budgétaires drastiques et ciblées dans son ministère chargé de l’environnement aquatique et de la recherche. Quant à la volumineuse loi budgétaire C-38 en vigueur depuis le mois de juillet, elle modifie la Loi sur les pêches et abolit des évaluations environnementales. (…)

Scientists are continuing to fight to save the library at the St. Andrews Biological Station from federal funding cuts. The library is used by Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists, outside researchers and by university students for teaching and research in southwestern New Brunswick. (…)

Regulatory documents indicate federal scientists still have significant concerns over Shell's proposed Jackpine oilsands mine expansion north of Fort McMurray, Alta., even as the project heads into public hearings. (…)

Des scientifiques fédéraux ont toujours des inquiétudes à propos de l'agrandissement du projet d'exploitation des sables bitumineux Jackpine de la société pétrolière Shell, alors que le projet doit passer à l'étape des audiences publiques, indiquent des documents.

Enbridge Inc.'s response plan for a potential spill of Northern Gateway oil into the pristine waters off British Columbia doesn't take into account the unique oil mixture the pipeline would actually carry, documents show. However, documents obtained under access to information show a scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans argued vigorously for a chance to do more research. "The Northern Gateway pipeline proposal lacks key information on the chemical composition of the reference oils used in the hypothetical spill models," wrote Ken Lee, head of DFO's Centre for Offshore Oil Gas and Energy Research, or COOGER. (…)

In a wide-ranging interview with Postmedia News, David McLaughlin, a former Harper government staffer who headed the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, suggested that it would be in Canada’s best interests for these groups to learn to work together as they debate major infrastructure projects such as Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline and the development of energy resources such as the oilsands.

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.

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the fate of Enbridge's proposed pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to tankers on the British Columbia coast will be based on science and not politics, documents show some of that science isn't forthcoming.And critics say there is no time for the science to be completed before a federal deadline for the environmental assessment currently underway.

In this year’s federal budget, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government outlined a plan to streamline federal and provincial environmental regulations, to reduce overlap and delays in resource development. It’s a sensible premise, but news this week that Ottawa plans to effectively defer to Alberta on greenhouse-gas rules - allowing it to place fewer limits on carbon emissions from oil-sands development than might otherwise be the case - raises concerns about what it will lead to.

Buried within the more than 400 pages of this spring’s federal omnibus budget bill is an invitation for resource companies to open a new frontier in Canadian oil: the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Now, due to measures deep in the federal budget, that ecosystem may be under threat. The bill explicitly highlights the region’s potential for petroleum extraction and includes amendments to the Coasting Trade Act that give oil companies greater access to exploration vessels.

A dependence on fossil fuel resources is making the country vulnerable to a planetary “mega trend” toward low-carbon energy that “will affect the whole of Canada’s economy,” Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver was told in newly released internal briefing notes.

Environnement Canada craint que les efforts du gouvernement Harper pour encourager ses fonctionnaires à examiner de plus près les risques et possibles répercussions des changements climatiques ne tombent dans l'oreille d'un sourd. C'est du moins ce que révèle une note d'Environnement Canada datée de juillet 2011, et dont La Presse Canadienne a obtenu copie en vertu de la Loi d'accès à l'information. La note d'Environnement Canada révèle toutefois les craintes de l'équipe chargée de l'application du cadre de travail, qui s'inquiète des possibilités que la mesure ne soit reléguée sur une tablette dans certains secteurs du gouvernement ne se préoccupant pas, de façon générale, des impacts environnementaux de leurs décisions.

The signs of drought were everywhere, from shrivelled rivers and lakes in the American West to brittle brown lawns and parched farm crops in the Canadian Prairies. Anyone who weathered the stubborn dry spell that enveloped western North America from 2000 to 2004 knows it was harsh, but now a group of researchers has concluded it was the most severe drought in 800 years – bone-dry conditions that the scientists believe could become the “new norm” in this vital agricultural region.

Environment Canada is worried that the Harper government's own effort to encourage public servants to more carefully consider the risks and possible impacts of climate change is falling on deaf ears. Internal documents show that the team implementing the plan fears it may be dismissed in some corners of the bureaucracy, since officials won't have to keep track of how their decisions deal with climate-related risks.

Ottawa’s controversial decision to close down the world-renowned research facility known as the Experimental Lakes Area may not be final, according to Manitoba premier Greg Selinger. At the Council of the Federation (COF) meetings in Halifax, Premier Selinger said he had a “bilateral” meeting with federal Environment Minister Peter Kent at the recent Rio+20 Conference that left him with the impression that there was a “glimmer of hope” at the political level that Ottawa’s decision was not final.

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.

À la fin du mois dernier, en dépouillant son courrier, Stephen Harper a relevé une lettre signée de la main même de la présidente de la Société Royale du Canada. Dans cette courte lettre, Yolande Grisé exprimait au plus haut dirigeant du pays sa «déception profonde et son regret quant aux récentes réductions budgétaires qui touchent plusieurs ministères et organismes gouvernementaux.»

After discovering Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq quietly killed back in 2009 a departmental proposal to regulate trans fat levels in processed food, I wanted to find out if the issue was dead. After all, the department’s plan was drafted in accordance with a commitment from Aglukkaq’s predecessor, Tony Clement, to regulate if industry didn’t make enough progress under a voluntary program, tracked by Health Canada’s monitoring program. So, I filed an access to information to see if the issue was being discussed at Health Canada’s Food Expert Advisory Committee.

As one of the world’s largest fish and seafood exporters (a business worth $3.9-billion in 2010), Canada might be unique in that the potential fisheries along almost three-quarters of its coastline are largely untapped and unexplored. Until recently, those Arctic marine shores kept many of their undersea secrets well hidden beneath metres-thick ice and at harsh, impassable distances.

La très sérieuse revue scientifique Nature s’inquiète que le gouvernement conservateur de Stephen Harper procède à des coupes possiblement idéologiques dans des programmes scientifiques, surtout dans le domaine environnemental.

Leaders of the largest federal public sector unions are in St. Andrews, New Brunswick today to join a groundswell of opposition to federal cuts at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ St. Andrews Biological Station.

The sight last week of 2,000 scientists marching on Ottawa's Parliament Hill highlighted a level of unease in the Canadian scientific community that is unprecedented in living memory.

Lacking the evidence that now-cancelled programs provided, policy-making will become a guessing game

Austérité oblige, le budget de l'Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments (ACIA) a malheureusement été amputé de 56 millions de dollars pour les trois prochaines années. Des centaines d'inspecteurs et plusieurs autres employés seront mis à pied. Ottawa a toutefois promis de maintenir en poste les inspecteurs de la transformation des viandes.

Ottawa has seen countless demonstrations over the decades, none more poignant or disturbing than what unfolded Tuesday when hundreds of scientists took to the street to protest what they call “the Death of Evidence.”

The Harper government has deployed a network of Canadian diplomats to lobby Fortune 500 companies in the United States in order to counter a global warming campaign launched by an environmental advocacy group targeting the oilsands industry, says a newly-released internal memorandum from Natural Resources Canada.

Quelque 1000 personnes, dont de nombreux scientifiques en sarrau blanc, ont défilé en cortège funèbre hier pour dénoncer la « mort de la preuve scientifique », exécutée selon eux par le gouvernement conservateur.

En signant la fin du recensement version longue, le gouvernement de Stephen Harper avait offert un solide avant-goût de son mépris pour les faits,

The mock funeral for the death of scientific evidence in Canada certainly inspired grief among CBC readers who duked it out over the merits of Wednesday's protest.

Scientists from across the country staged a mock funeral on Parliament Hill Tuesday to mark what they called "the death of evidence," protesting government funding cuts to basic research.

Hundreds of scientists stepped away from their petri dishes on Tuesday to denounce what they say are the Harper government’s sweeping cuts to research.

Des chercheurs de partout au pays se sont réunis à Ottawa afin de manifester leur opposition aux compressions infligées à la recherche scientifique par le gouvernement conservateur de Stephen Harper.

Une dizaine de citoyens et scientifiques vêtus de noir se sont réunis mardi devant l'Institut des eaux douces de Pêches et Océans Canada sur le campus de l'Université du Manitoba à Winnipeg, pour protester contre les compressions budgétaires du gouvernement fédéral dans les programmes scientifiques.

Two of the biggest players in the research world — NASA and the journal Science — were wrong when they told the world that microbes scooped from a California lake had rewritten the rules of life.

It was a funeral procession with no coffin. But that didn’t stop the scientific community at the University of Regina from mourning federal government budget cuts at the Death of Evidence rally on Tuesday.

New laws offering the government more tools to "authorize" water pollution appear to be designed to remove obstacles for expansion of Canada's oilpatch, says a Liberal MP from Montreal who spearheaded a parliamentary investigation into the environmental footprint of the oilsands.

Have a doughnut on your way out the door. That is the message several dozen employees of the NRC took away June 29 as the president of the agency issued gift cards for a coffee and a doughnut to all employees, including 65 who are being laid off this month.

Quantitative indicators such as the number of publications and citation counts can be used to inform decisions about allocating research funding, but they can’t replace expert judgment, says a new report by the Council of Canadian Academies released on July 5.

Heavy workloads and high turnover at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans could jeopardize the federal government's ability to protect Canadians from the dangerous impacts of industrial projects, say internal government records obtained by Postmedia News.

Four good men with extensive government experience tried to stop the Harper government. Predictably, they failed – predictably, because this government listens to almost no one who actually knows about given policy fields.

Up to 5,000 federal environmental assessments of economic projects are conducted every year under existing laws, but the Harper government's proposal to repeal the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act could eliminate "most" of those reviews, said Environment Minister Peter Kent in a statement tabled in Parliament before it began a marathon voting session earlier this week on legislation tied to the federal budget.

Les compressions dans les laboratoires scientifiques fédéraux risquent de coûter cher et sacrifient des installations récentes de grande valeur. C'est ce qui ressort de nouvelles informations colligées par La Presse que le ministère des Pêches et Océans a été incapable de confirmer en dépit d'un délai de plus d'une semaine. Selon des sources internes à Pêches et Océans Canada (MPO), le laboratoire d'expertises en analyses chimiques aquatiques de Mont-Joli, dont le gouvernement Harper a prévu la fermeture dans son dernier budget, était flambant neuf. Il a coûté environ 2 millions. Ce montant est confirmé par Jean Piuze, un ancien haut fonctionnaire de MPO.

The scientific community has united against Ottawa's plan to close the Kenora-area Experimental Lakes Area. Petitions supporting the continuation of the project have garnered support from across the globe. More than 11,500 Canadians have asked the federal government to reconsider its decision to close down the Experimental Lakes Area near Kenora.

Canada's capability as a world leader in medical isotope production faces stiff new non-proliferation actions by the United States, which is curbing exports of highly-enriched, bomb-grade uranium to foreign isotope makers. The move is among seven measures announced by the White House to minimize the civilian use of highly enriched uranium-235 (HEU) and push isotope manufactures to convert to the use of far less dangerous low-enriched uranium.

Le premier directeur de l'Institut Maurice-Lamontagne de Mont-Joli, Jean Boulva, sort de sa réserve pour dénoncer la suppression de 64 millions de dollars du budget de Pêches et Océans Canada. Jean Boulva, qui a dirigé le centre de recherche entre 1987 et 2005, croit que la recherche aurait dû être épargnée par les compressions fédérales. Line audio (8:40) - http://www.radio-canada.ca/audio-video/pop.shtml#urlMedia=http://www.radio-canada.ca/Medianet/2012/CBGA/Aucoeurdumonde201206111513.asx Lien vidéo (2:00) - http://www.radio-canada.ca/audio-video/pop.shtml#urlMedia=http://www.radio-canada.ca/Medianet/2012/CJBRT/LeTelejournalEstDuQuebec201206111759_1.asx

Budget cuts to a team of smokestack pollution specialists at Environment Canada could jeopardize the Harper government`s efforts to crack down on pollution from industries such as the oilsands and coal-fired electricity generation, warns a University of Guelph professor, who worked with the special unit of federal scientists.

L’État doit-il aider financièrement les citoyens et les groupes qui participent à des audiences publiques ou font appel aux tribunaux ? Pas quand le but est de contester les politiques gouvernementales, croit le gouvernement Harper. Le premier ministre Stephen Harper en a donné une nouvelle preuve jeudi dernier lors de son passage à Paris.

Dans leur texte, les procureurs du ROC déclarent au ministre des Finances James Flaherty « qu’il n’y a aucune justification défendable pour cette attaque contre la loi et la politique environnementale du Canada ». Le Barreau du Québec estime que les amendements apportés par le projet de loi omnibus C-38 à la Loi sur les pêches constituent une « menace à l’intégrité de la biodiversité et ne respectent pas le principe général de développement durable, ni les engagements internationaux pris par le Canada en matière de protection de la biodiversité ».

Federal fisheries workers hosted educational marine-themed displays for hundreds of school children for World Oceans Day events on the Halifax waterfront Friday while others worried about the future of the department. Oceans Day is meant to celebrate and teach awareness about the importance of ocean conservation. This year, Oceans Day takes place as the federal government rewrites environmental law including overhauling the Fisheries Act and making major cuts to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

A Nova Scotia archeologist says Ottawa's plan to close the Dartmouth lab contradicts the spirit of UN rules. Jonathan Fowler is a professor at Saint Mary's University. He has directed the archaeological field school at Grand Pré National Historic site since 2001. He said closing the Parks Canada Archaeology Lab in Dartmouth will be a serious loss for the program and for other public history initiatives across Atlantic Canada.

Nearly a year after agreeing to a joint federal-provincial plan to improve the scientific and environmental oversight of oilsands development, Canada's main oil and gas industry lobby group says it is still sorting out details about how different companies would share the estimated $50 million price tag.

This is an East Coast fish story. It started with a tour of the newly rebuilt biological station in tiny little St. Andrews, NB. We, by that I mean the people of Canada, have invested $71 million in the station and the results are pretty impressive. But there's a dark downside: while we've got a new facility, we're losing key people -- and a hundred-year-old science legacy.

Canadians will "pay a price" for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's imbalanced and mistaken approach on environmental issues, says a former Reform and Conservative party MP. "I always thought that 'conserve' was part of the Conservative mantra, but I might be wrong," Bob Mills said Thursday at a news conference organized by Green Party leader Elizabeth May. "Stephen Harper puts other priorities, I think, ahead of the environment, and I think that's a mistake."

Conservative politicians – including a former Reform MP who was his party’s environment critic when Stephen Harper was opposition leader – have joined more than 20 other former members in protesting the government’s decision to kill the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

La décision de Pêches et Océans Canada de fermer tous ses laboratoires étudiant la pollution chimique de l'eau a de quoi étonner pour un pays qui a le plus long littoral du monde et aussi les plus grandes réserves d'eau douce. Mais un examen plus attentif des recherches publiées par les responsables de ces laboratoires montre à quel point leur travail nuisait à plusieurs industries: aquaculture, exploitation pétrolière, pétrochimie, agriculture industrielle, etc.

The Conservative government is facing growing pressure to reverse its decision to end funding for the Experimental Lakes Area, a unique research zone in Northwestern Ontario where scientists can gauge the impact of pollution on ecosystems.

Des chercheurs s'inquiètent et s'indignent devant les compressions du gouvernement conservateur. Ottawa entend fermer plusieurs laboratoires fédéraux qui étudient la pollution chimique dans les lacs et les océans. Plus d'une centaine de scientifiques demandent au premier ministre de revenir sur cette décision. Fichier audio (durée 13:00)

La disparition de laboratoires scientifiques à Pêches et Océans Canada et la proposition de réforme de la Loi sur les pêches, deux conséquences du projet de loi C-38 sur le budget, continuent de susciter la controverse.

Kenneth Lee — an oil spill expert and the executive director of the Centre for Offshore Oil, Gas and Energy Research at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth — recently received a workforce adjustment letter informing him that his position is being eliminated. Lee confirmed he received the notice and his research centre is being eliminated, but declined an interview with CBC News on Monday.

La décision du gouvernement Harper d’abolir plusieurs postes de chercheurs à Pêches et Océans Canada aura de graves conséquences sur la recherche scientifique qui était jusqu’ici menée pour mieux comprendre les problèmes environnementaux qui touchent le Saint-Laurent.

MONT-JOLI, QC, May 25, 2012: Twelve Maurice-Lamontagne Institute (MLI) researchers and scientists received their workforce adjustment (WFA) notice on May 17. According to the union representing them, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is dismantling cutting edge infrastructure crucial for the health of the Maritime fisheries.