By Mark Taliano
Cut off the serpent’s head to kill the “snake.”
Information streams in Canada have been polluted by science-denying misinformation for years now, but apparently the country’s Harper government thinks more toxins need to be added to an already murky corporate mix.
Canada’s Harper government aims to shut down federal environmental research work at the Experimental Lakes Area in Kenora, Ontario.
First, and under the guise of austerity, Harper muzzled and then fired federal scientists. The impacts to the scientists and their families are devastating, as are the continuing impacts toCanada’s environmental and economical stewardship. Now, in what the international community sees as beyond credulity, Harper has extended his reach even closer to the source. The world renown Experimental Lakes Area, located near Kenora, Ontario is now on the chopping block.
This singularly important freshwater research facility has led to evidence-based shifts on acid rain policy; to improvements in hydro dam building; to a ban on phosphorus in detergents; to advancements in the battle against green algae, and to improved understanding of the value in cutting mercury emissions. Additionally, the Experimetal Lakes Area has provided a base for 745 peer-reviewed scientific articles.
The government’s known disdain for peer-reviewed scientific articles on Anthropogenic Global Warming is now matched by its disdain for research generated from the ELA. Any evidence that might make resource extraction sustainable for both humans and the economy, is now being effectively suppressed.
In a similar move, also under the guise of “austerity”, the government is gutting the scientific capacity of Parks Canada. The reduction of scientists and tech staff at National Parks will impede any serious attempts to develop natural resources in a sustainable fashion. Already endangered species like caribou, salmon, and rare plants will be impacted further, as will human communities that are currently being poisoned by environmental “externalities” inherent in poorly regulated resource extraction industries.
Soon, if not already, the government’s sole trusted advisor on environmental issues will be Environment Minister Peter Kent (whose prestigious scientific “qualifications” are limited to his background as a news broadcaster). The already polluted information streams will continue to shout Harper’s “unified” message, andCanada’s reputation as an international leader in accelerating environmental catastrophes will be firmly entrenched.
Yet again, transnational corporate profits are the drivers of evidence-free government policies. The 99% will not be the beneficiaries of Harper’s largesse.
Mark Taliano is a Niagara resident and regular contributor to Niagara At Large
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post, remembering that NAL only posts comments by individuals who also share their first and last names with our readers.)
Niagara At Large 
There are a lot of people, including scientists, expressing the same view and opinion as Mr. Taliano.
There are a lot of people, including scientists, expressing the opposite view and opinion to those of Mr. Taliano.
It is difficult to determine which view or opinion is correct.
There is one thing that is a fact and that is the overabundance of individuals and scientists trying to justify their existence! While we struggle to determine the truth behind their conflicting opinions we must pay taxes to keep far too much redundancy.
Mr. Taliano says, ‘The impacts to the scientists and their families are devastating, as are the continuing impacts to Canada’s environmental and economical stewardship’. But wasn’t it the Liberal Government that installed the obscene overabundance of tax-burning personnel in the first place.
Mr. Taliano, just how many scientists, individuals and interested groups does it take to come to a decisive conclusion on climate change?
Check out: http://members.shaw.ca/wellandwx/history/wellandwx.htm#information
In my ‘Niagara at Large’ submission ‘Climate Con’ I responded to a 91 page book turned out by The Niagara Region and Brock University.
The most disturbing facts in that the 91 page book inadvertently illustrated are:
1. The ridiculous number of overlapping entities primarily providing the same service
2. The lack of communication between these same publicly funded groups
3. The fact that so much of the garnered information is not available to the general public
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Mr. Haskell,
I invite you to name some scientists who approve of the collapse of scientific inquiry in Canada.
“Mr. Taliano, just how many scientists, individuals and interested groups does it take to come to a decisive conclusion on climate change?”
As many as it takes to convince the likes of you.
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I would be interested in the title of the 91 page book referenced, and to see if it is not available through any of the Niagara library systems. Thank you.
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Scientists protest the stupidity of Harper’s cuts to science, ( translation: his servility to insular “corporate interests”):
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The Harper gov’t pushes us back to the scientific Dark Ages at a time when we are uniquely positioned to be world-environmental leaders:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/07/10/f-kluane-glacier-research.html?cmp=rss
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Rick Mercer:
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Kudos to Mulclair:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/energy-resources/Pull+plug+Enbridge+Northern+Gateway+pipeline/6916284/story.html?cid=dlvr.it-twitter-edmontonjournal
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Eulogies for Nature … from those who embrace truth and science…
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A national disgrace, thanks Steven:
http://elizabethmaymp.ca/news/publications/island-tides/2012/07/12/values-that-rub-off/
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Another national disgrace. Canada’s freedom of information rating is now at 51… below Angola and Colombia.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-falls-out-of-top-fifty-in-global-freedom-of-information-rankings/article4364957/
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Dear Mr. Haskell,
Would you please be so good as to forward the title of the book(let) to which you earlier referred. If not to me, perhaps to the other readers of NAL? Without it, one wonders if it may be a fiction. Whatever, the title would be appreciated.
As always, thank you and best regards, G. B.
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Preston Haskell, if that is your real name, it would be alarming there was not an overlap of scientists saying roughly the same thing. You obviously have a weak grasp of reality and no grasp of the scientific process if you think there is only ONE RIGHT ANSWER. (hmm, where have we heard that idea before) When you find all the scientists saying roughly the same thing and a group of others saying something else then you look for common ground between them and you may then infer that a new reality has been defined, when you prove there is in fact an agreement held by many diverse persons.
A note from NAL publisher Doug Draper – I will go this far down the road on this one from Preston Haskell. Preston Haskell is his real name. Iw Ewan Martin your real name?
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Getting rid of our top minds…it’s so crazy,,,Dr Kristy Miller is one of those muzzled scientists and I’ll bet she’s got lots to say when it comes to virus and disease in BC’s farmed and wild salmon…Last week a press release announced she’s dong yet another study on salmon diseases which is pretty darn ridiculous considering she still can’t even talk about her first one…this new research announcement came shortly after our government decided Canadians were to be the first humans on this planet to eat flesh infected with the ISA virus….while no other country in the world allows its citizens to eat flesh infected with this world health reportable disease, we had about 240,000 unlabeled, ISA infected, east coast farmed salmon dumped onto our marketplace! Yum, yum…I know I’m feeling the love!
And then a couple of weeks ago Dr Alexandra Morton went public when she got an inside tip that there were about a half million Norwegian strain PRV virus infected farmed salmon smolts at the Dalrymple hatchery on Vancouver island…PRV is a novel new virus with a unique capsid or outer coating not seen before and Norwegian strain means it’s an imported fish farm disease, definitely not natural to BC’s coast!..
Surprisingly the virus was identified as being very similar to one found in chickens and it causes heart and muscle disease in both species http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/07/salmon-disease-identified/…so the question is, could it have jumped species?…fish food pellets contain a long list of ingredients…among those are chicken parts, hydrolyzed feathers and surprise, surprise, chicken poop!…most everyone knows by now there’s lot’s of nasties in chicken poop…not hard to imagine a teensy little virus getting in with a speck or two of uncooked turd and voila!…poor chickens, they sure do get implicated a lot….
PRV is nasty and spreads like wildfire among salmon….While the farmed salmon with PRV have been observed resting against the farms nets when they have this disease, a wild salmon needs a healthy heart to travel up BC’s wild rivers where we can see thousands upon thousands of wild salmon dead or dying right before spawning, their bodies full of eggs and milt…on this compelling new documentary http://salmonconfidential.ca/ one can see Dr Morton opening dead fish and their hearts are mush…their bodies full of freaky strangeness…blisters, bleeding from the skin etc!
The latest news is that the fish farm boats were tracked on radar to the Dalrymple hatchery and from there proceeded down to fish farms set up in the Jonestone strait…sad as the young salmon smolts are on their outward migration right now and they have to pass by these filthy diseased farms on their way out to sea…too bad they don’t know about the diseases or maybe they wouldn’t hang about the farms for the floating bits of food that drift through the fish farms nets….one also has to consider that this means these PRV virus infected salmon are being grown for human consumption,…there’s been no human testing for this virus either and that has many who even know about it very concerned…. I’ll just bet Dr Kristy Miller could give us a few answers about PRV as she mentioned it was one of the diseases she was looking at before being muzzled….one thing we do know for sure is that it’s suddenly become the NEW NORMAL to grow diseased fish on both of our coasts while shutting up our scientists and that needs to stop…not only do these viruses need to be tested, we should have labels on meat with any kind of infection that is a world health reportable disease…shaking my head at the insanity that reigns supreme in our Harper government!
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What is there to say, we are ruled by corporate Nazi’s, I know Doug doesn’t like that terminology , I and my mother had to run like hell to get away from the Luftwaffe in Liverpool while visiting family, at least we knew who our enemy was and could flee, when our enemy is Corporate and we have to eat., where/ do we go?.we are sitting ducks.here in Corporate Canada.
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