Open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper:
I am appalled at the ignorance shown by the Conservative Party of Canada in destroying the libraries of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the closure of scientific research facilities such as the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario, the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, and other research centres across the country. My understanding is that many of the DFO files were destroyed before being properly digitized.
You appear to have a vendetta against any science that contributes to public understanding and well-being but doesn’t necessarily have a direct economic benefit. The loss of the historic data contained in the scientific libraries means that it will be very difficult to monitor environmental change. Perhaps this is what you want in order to achieve your economic agenda.
Perhaps you want to erase any evidence that the environment is undergoing anthropogenic change beyond its capacity. Perhaps you wish to promote economic growth at any cost.
The economy should be sustainable, and without the means to measure environmental change economic growth will erode our inventories of natural resources and compromise the services provided by the environment.
Without clean water and air, intact and functioning ecosystems, healthy food, etc., we cannot have a functioning and healthy economy. Science that monitors the environment is just as important, if not more important, than science that creates widgets and other goods that we may or may not need. Please explain the reasoning for closing and/or destroying these important monitoring tools.
Brian Charles
Whitehorse