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The environmental petitions process under the Auditor General Act provides a formal means for Canadians to bring their concerns about environmental issues to the attention of federal ministers and departments and to obtain a response to their concerns. The Office of the Auditor General of Canada has created a guide to help people better understand the environmental petitions process and to provide some suggestions to prepare well-crafted and concise petitions.

OTTAWA — B.C. conservation groups are asking the federal auditor general’s office to investigate the Harper government’s response to the $26-million Fraser River sockeye salmon inquiry that was completed in 2012.

Critics have argued that the federal government not only ignored most of Justice Bruce Cohen’s recommendations, but also moved to weaken habitat protection laws and cut fisheries protection staff.

Read more at the Vancouver Sun.

This video says it all ...

Damsels in Distress from Sharptail Media on Vimeo.

Canadians hoping to gauge the hazards of the Harper government’s ongoing budget cuts need look no further than the impact of the cuts on government science, concludes a new report by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) titled “Vanishing Science,” based on recent, separate surveys of federal government scientists and the public.

Some things are hard to explain even by the most verbose of politically astute minds. 

The ongoing gutting/changing of budgets and services at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Canadian Coast Guard are beginning to defy logic.

A recent article in Postmedia News by Mike De Souza outlined the depth and breadth of the situation and in doing so sent a shock-wave through the fishing and marine communities. 

The story said that there will be $100 million in cuts and upwards of 500 jobs lost at DFO in many high profile areas in the very near future.