Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May. The success rate of private member’s bills in the federal parliament is abysmal. In the 100-plus years since 1910, Ottawa has passed just 271 of them. For comparison, more than 1,600 PMB’s were tabled between 1997 and 2015, and the rate at which they’re being drawn
Continue readingTag: Experimental Lakes Area
On the good news front—Experimental Lakes Area is open for business
Of all the victims of the federal government’s suppression of science, the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) was perhaps the most important. The ELA, comprised of 58 freshwater lakes along with accommodation and laboratories, is a unique Canadian scientific research facility, the only site in the world where whole lake-experimentation is
Continue readingThings Are Good: Support The Experimental Lakes Area
The Experimental Lakes Area has suffered greatly from the Canadian government’s anti-science funding policies and has luckily been saved by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. To ensure that further damage can’t come from the ideologically-driven and anti-environment Conservative Party the ELA has turned to crowd funding to survive. Last
Continue readingreeves report: Kathleen Wynne’s environmental ups and downs
Feature image: Ontario Rangers youth gather at Queen’s Park in January, 2013 to protest cuts to a Ministry of Natural Resources program many former participants claim changed their lives. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has called an election for June 12, and as the parties gear up their campaign platforms, it’s
Continue readingreeves report: Rebuilding ‘science team’ at ELA a tough task
Researchers at the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario. Getting the team back together at the Experimental Lakes Area may be tougher than saving the project itself. When Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on May 17, 2012 that funding for the Experimental Lakes Area would no longer be renewed by the
Continue readingthe reeves report: Time running out on ELA interim agreement
Researchers working at one of 58 lakes in the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario. Only three days remain to finalize the interim agreement to find a new operator for the Experimental Lakes Area laboratory in northern Ontario, but the province’s resource minister is “optimistic” things will work out. “We are
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Video: The five main threats to Lake Winnipeg
October 26, 2013: Diane Orihel, founder and director of the Coalition to Save ELA, speaks to a workshop in Winnipeg on water quality sponsored by Idle No More Manitoba. Photo: Paul S. Graham Diane Orihel is a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta and the founder and Director of
Continue readingAt least the provinces (well, two of them) care about climate change
In a good news item, the governments of Ontario and Manitoba announced they will maintain the internationally renowned Experiment Lakes Area project. Ontario has committed $2-million a year and Manitoba another $900,000 over six years through its funding of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). The IISD, a Winnipeg-based
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Some Thoughts From An Ontario Perspective – UPDATED
While acknowledging that Ontario politics is likely of little interest to those living outside the province, I think there is much wisdom in former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill’s observation that “All politics is local.” If it affects a constituent ‘where he or she lives,’ either in the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: We Are Not Alone
Those of us who write in the progressive blogosphere, I suspect, often have a ‘dark night of the soul,’ fearing that we are only preaching to the converted in our posts, and that those who share our bent for criticizing the status quo are in a decided minority. That is
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Federal Budget 2013 fails Canadians, says Council of Canadians
By: Council of Canadians | Press Release: In response to the federal budget, representatives of the Council of Canadians made the following comments: “This budget fails Canadians. It continues a privatization agenda for water, a trade agenda that doesn’t equate to job growth, a health care agenda that will cut billions
Continue readingCall for international solidarity with Canadian scientists
As the federal government’s assault on science encounters increased resistance from Canadian scientists, the international community increasingly takes notice. In a recent column in The Guardian, science writer Alice Bell suggests that our scientists deserve international support, saying “We can’t pretend Canadian science is simply a Canadian matter any more
Continue readingImpolitical: Bad environmental choices, bad economics too
David Suzuki’s column today on the government’s choice to close the Experimental Lakes Area magnifies the tremendous cost to taxpayers: The world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area in Southern Ontario has served as an outdoor laboratory for this purpose since 1968. By manipulating and studying conditions in 58 small lakes and their
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: On Harper Ideology and Young Hudak’s ‘Vision’
Two reading recommendations for Monday morning: The Star has a good editorial suggesting that the Harper government’s efforts to find a buyer for the Experimental Lakes Area in Kenora is just a sham, an empty public relations exercise. As the editorial points out, the reseach facility has been making key
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What The Closure of The Experimental Lakes Area Really Means
To learn the truly tragic dimensions of this Harper maneuver to silence yet another dissenting scientific voice, please check out this article by Michael Harris. After reading it, I think you will likely agree that the health of Canadians is pretty low on the list of Dear Leader’s priorities. Recommend
Continue reading350 or bust: Canadian Democracy in Disarray
* There is mounting alarm and opposition across Canada, even among many conservatives, about the Harper government’s omnibus budget bill, Bill C-38. Yesterday Parlliamentary Speaker Andrew Scheer (a Conservative MP from Saskatchewan) denied Elizabeth May’s well argued Point of Order re: allowing Omnibus Budget Bill C-38 as a legitimate omnibus
Continue readingearthgauge: “Dark Age” for Canadian Science
In yet another example of the Canadian government’s antipathy toward science and hatred of all things environmental, check out this article from the excellent journalist Andrew Nikiforuk. Here’s an excerpt: Just as citizens flocked to their cottages and launched their boats, the government of Stephen Harper pulled the plug on
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