Shychemist

Do I dare disturb the Universe?: Ashamed of Canada's government

setterofmoods:

Canada’s position on the world stage of climate change and environmental responsibility:

Yesterday, the government shut down debate so it could ram through bill C-45, the second omnibus budget bill of 2012. This bill removes protection from thousands of waterways – making way for faster industrial development and ignoring the voices of communities.

Last week at the international climate talks in Qatar, Canada was ranked 58th – the worst performer on climate change of any developed nation¹. Only Kazakhstan, Iran and Saudi Arabia do less than Canada. It’s shocking. (x)

Donate here to allow independent scientists, researchers and policy experts to bring forward solutions and speak out – loudly – for a different future..

My Blog, LMHF: Dear World,

littlemisshobbitface:

Listen to my plea CAREFULLY.

THIS was the reaction of Canadians with common sense when Stephen Harper and the Conservatives got re-elected with a majority:

This was the reaction of people who REALLY don’t like them:

This was MY reaction:

Not THESE guys again!

This was the reaction of people who LIKE the oil sands, hate immigrants, homophobes, and pretty much every other horrible person in Canada (and a few decent ones) AKA: mostly Alberta and I’m ashamed to say Saskatchewan:

How other Canadians reacted to THEIR reaction:

You’re stupid.

How most of the country feels about our government and what they’re doing internationally:

…..you get the point.

How most of the country feels about what they’re doing INSIDE the country:

So please, don’t hate us. It’s not our fault! The idiots in Office only got 37.65%of the vote! They only won because we need a better system! Most of us WANT to clean up the oil sands, tax heavy polluters higher, have opinions that don’t always mirror the U.S., go back to peacekeeping rather than being dragged into U.S.’s wars, welcome immigrants, make good international friends, etc.

to sum up: PLEASE don’t hate us because our government is stupid. Forgive us.

In honest sincerity, Canada.

Harper among least trusted leaders, poll shows

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (C) disembarks from a vehicle as he arrives to visit the historic Taj Mahal in the northern Indian city of Agra November 5, 2012. (Stringer/India /Reuters)

Canadians are slowly losing trust in Parliament and political parties, and share some of the toughest views in the American hemisphere about their national leader, according to a new 26-country survey.

At the same time, Canadians are holding on to their positive views of the Canadian Forces and the RCMP, an above-average appreciation of their law-and-order institutions. All in all, Canadians are expressing dissatisfaction with their political system, but also no appetite for major changes to the federal apparatus.

[…]

The survey found only 16 per cent of Canadians place “a lot of trust” in their Prime Minister, putting Stephen Harper near the bottom among all leaders in the Americas.

“In an international context, Harper has a lower level of trust than almost every other national leader in the hemisphere,” Mr. Neuman said.

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Conservatives commit $16 million to 'action plan' ads while cutting programs

A government action plan sign is seen along the river in Mississippi Mills, Ont., Monday August 23, 2010. The Conservative government has approved tens of millions of dollars in “economic action plan” ads this year even as it cites fiscal restraint to cut programs such as scientific research and environmental monitoring. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - The Conservative government has approved tens of millions of dollars in “economic action plan” ads this year even as it cites fiscal restraint to cut programs such as scientific research and environmental monitoring.

While Finance officials are refusing to disclose the budget for the current blitz, contracts listed on the department’s website suggest the saturation ad campaign is costing taxpayers about $14 million.

A Treasury Board document shows that cabinet previously approved $16 million in “economic action plan” advertising in the first quarter of this year.

That doesn’t include $5 million approved for a “better jobs” ad campaign, $8 million to sell Canadians on cuts to old age security, and $5 million to promote “responsible resource development” — the slogan given to an environmental assessment system that was cut back and restructured in the last budget. All the measures are promoted on the government’s “economic action plan” web site.

The Conservatives also approved $4.5 million for War of 1812 advertising this year.

In all, the federal cabinet has already approved more than $64 million in ad spending for 2012-13 — seemingly well on its way to matching the $83.3 million they spent in 2010-11, the last year for which complete numbers are available.

When the Conservatives came to office in 2006, they inherited a federal advertising budget of $41.3 million — a total they have doubled, and in one case more than tripled, every year they’ve been in power to date.

The ad spending comes as Treasury Board President Tony Clement oversees sweeping cuts to government programs in an across-the-board belt-tightening exercise.

World-renowned programs such as the Experimental Lakes Area are being axed for savings of $2 million annually, while the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy was cut to save $5.5 million.

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This government has no conscience.

Canada's ozone science group falls victim to government cuts

A map showing ozone deviations for the northern hemisphere from the 1978-1988 level to 7 October 2012 level. Photograph: Environment Canada

Thousands of people have avoided getting skin cancer thanks to Canadian scientists who invented the UV index and the gold-standard tool for measuring the thickness of the Earth’s ozone layer. But now Canada’s ozone science group no longer exists, victim of government budget cuts.

“Everyone who was still left in the ozone group has been re-assigned,” said Prof Thomas Duck of the department of Physics and Atmospheric Science at Canada’s Dalhousie University.

In 2011 Canada unexpectedly experienced its first ever ozone hole over the Arctic. “The ozone problem is not solved,” Duck told the Guardian

[…]

Rather than celebrate the anniversary of this vital scientific contribution, Canada’s Stephen Harper government instead choose to spend $28m celebrating the War of 1812. The US invaded Canada when it was a British colony in 1812 and after a few battles the Americans went home.

Budget cuts to Environment Canada (EC), where the ozone science and monitoring are done, were $13.3m this year and will be $31.1m next year.

“There’s been no celebration of Canada’s scientific achievements. Never mind continuing to invest money into science,” says Gordon McBean, a former assistant deputy minister of EC and president-elect of the International Council for Science .

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This is TRAGIC. :’(

Al-Jazeera video breaks down military spending by the dollar

ikenbot:

sinidentidades:

More than half of every dollar we pay into taxes goes toward military spending, according to an analysis posted by Al-Jazeera earlier this week.

The video illustrates a conversation between radio host Dennis Bernstein and journalist Dave Lindorff.

“People have to realize that 53 cents of every dollar that they are paying into taxes is going to the military,” Lindorff says. “It’s an astonishing figure. There is an enormous, enormous amount of money being blown on war and killing and destruction.”

Of the proposed $3 trillion budget, Lindorff says, $717 billion would be allocated to the Pentagon budget; a $158 billion “contingency fund” would be used for military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan; $40 billion in “black box” intelligence spending

“They never tell us how much they spend on the CIA, NSA and DIA, and all these different intelligence activities, which are all war-related,” he says. An error in testimony about two years ago an error in Congressional testimony led to the revelation that the covert intelligence budget was around $37 billion, Lindorff says, adding that he suspects the budget is really closer to $60 billion or $70 billion.

Watch the Al-Jazeera USA video

Militarism at its best.

Canadian Government lies again, this time about costs of war in Libya

whymikashfights:

OTTAWA — Amid allegations the Conservative government intentionally lowballed the price of the F-35 stealth fighter project, newly released National Defence documents indicate the full cost of last year’s Libya mission was nearly $350 million — seven times what Defence Minister Peter MacKay told Canadians it cost.

The revelation is likely to raise further accusations of a systemic effort to hide the true cost of Canadian military operations and equipment purchases, and lead to fresh demands for accountability.

Last October, with Moammar Gadhafi dead and NATO wrapping up its seven-month air-and-sea campaign in Libya, MacKay said the mission had cost taxpayers $50 million — or about $10 million less than the Defence Department had predicted.

“As of Oct. 13, the figures that I’ve received have us well below ($60 million), somewhere under $50 million,” MacKay told the CBC on Oct. 28, three days before the mission officially ended. “And that’s the all-up costs of the equipment that we have in the theatre, the transportation to get there, those that have been carrying out this critical mission.”

But buried in a report tabled in the House of Commons this week are Defence Department figures pegging the full cost of the mission at more than $347.5 million.

Even taking into account the Defence Department’s controversial practice of only reporting “incremental costs” — those deemed to be above and beyond normal operating expenses — the mission still came in at $100 million, or almost twice what MacKay claimed.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/True+cost+Libya+mission+seven+times+estimate+documents/6601885/story.html#ixzz1uaolWddC

Fuck sakes. Is there even the slightest chance that we can get rid of these douchebags?

Again? You’ve got to be kidding me. This government must think its citizens are idiots. This government has zero accountability.

Cuts at Environment Canada mean fewer left to clean up oil-spill mess

The unit at Environment Canada that responds to oil-spill emergencies will be dramatically scaled back and most of its regional offices will be closed to meet the cost-cutting demands of the federal government.

“My entire program, which is about 60 people nationwide, got notices” saying their jobs could be eliminated, one of the employees who works for the Environmental Emergencies Program said Friday. “Everybody in the program is going to be vying for positions because the organization is being cut in half.”

The cuts are part of sweeping reductions to the federal workforce that are being made to help the Conservative government tackle a multibillion-dollar deficit.

They come as the government is promoting a plan to transport bitumen from the Alberta oil sands to Asia by tanker – a process that critics say is fraught with the potential for spills.

Katie Terhune, the energy campaign manager with Living Oceans Society, a group that opposes B.C. tanker traffic, called the cuts to the Environmental Emergencies Program “irresponsible and incredibly negligent.”

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