Open letter to Yukon MP Ryan Leef:
Canada’s Only High Arctic Research Lab Shuttered is the headline in the Yukon News, March 2, page 7. The Polar Environmental Atmospheric Research Laboratory is being closed April 30 for the want of $1.5 million.
I’d like to point out that your government has recently spent $12.4 million tax dollars informing Canadians that the upcoming budget is all about “jobs and growth.” Your government has also spent over $80 million on Canada Action Plan sloganeering since its inception - ads, which we are bombarded with still today. Altogether, your government has spent more money on advertising its programs and itself than any government in the history of our country.
If you can find the tens of millions of dollars for advertising yourselves, surely you can find a paltry $1.5 million to keep a very important research base afloat. This research station benefits not only the Yukon and the North in Canada but also gathers information international scientists rely on for a complete picture. Wouldn’t you think that $1.5 million is a drop in your government’s bucket? I’d like to see my hard-earned tax dollars going for something usable and concrete for Canada, not just something to benefit your party as government.
You need to stand up for us. Stand up for the North.
Susan Moralis
Whitehorse