Unfortunately for Canadians we have a Conservative majority government so the Omnibus Bill will be passed by the legislature. Three years from now when we have the opportunity to vote the Conservatives out it will be hard to undo all the damage they are doing with the removal of environmental protective measures in Canada. This article discusses the impact of the closure of a world-reknowned research facility that studies toxins in freshwater lakes.
“Leading environmental scientists say Ottawa is cutting funding to a research station that studied the ecology of freshwater lakes for more than 50 years because it is producing data the Conservatives do not want to hear as they promote development of the Alberta oil sands.
A massive budget bill that is about to be passed into law by Stephen Harper’s government will cut about $2-million in annual funding to the Experimental Lakes Area in Northwestern Ontario and close the highly-regarded research centre by next April if a new operator cannot be found.
David Schindler, a word-renowned biological scientist who teaches at the University of Alberta, took part in a news conference Friday to decry the decision, which he said will eliminate an effective monitor of the impact of the oil sands.
Recent studies conducted at the station have found that when the mercury input to a lake is cut off, the lake begins to recover, Dr. Schindler said. That contradicts the oil industry’s position, which says that once a lake is polluted with mercury, it is beyond repair and adding more won’t make any difference, he said.
“My guess is our current managers don’t like to see this kind of [research] because the oil sands have an exponentially increasing output of mercury,” Dr. Schindler said. “I think the real problem is we have a bunch of people running science in this country who don’t even know what science is.” Continue reading
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