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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>sorry - I can't commit to doing much with this except
maybe being there when he enters or exits if members plan to be there -too much
family stuff going on right now. Lori S.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=gcmichalenko@uwaterloo.ca
href="mailto:gcmichalenko@uwaterloo.ca">Gregory C. Michalenko</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=gordanddaph@sympatico.ca
href="mailto:gordanddaph@sympatico.ca">Daphne NICHOLLS</A> ; <A
title=all@gren.ca href="mailto:all@gren.ca">GREN</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, May 22, 2012 2:09 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [All] concern</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; DIRECTION: ltr; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Dear
Fellow Grenlings,
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Several of you have expressed interest in the visit of Federal
Environment minister Peter Kent to Waterloo on May 24, although a number are
already busy with engagements on that day (as active environmentalists should
be).</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I've asked Kent's office to email me his schedule in Waterloo. He
will apparently be visiting the new environmental studies building and then
meeting with some faculty officials. His office had apparently wanted
the Faculty to host a public meeting for him, but the request was declined.
I am confident that the good people there will not flinch from putting
urgent environmental concerns on the table in their discussions with the
minister. </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Since it's my happy place of employment until I retired 2 years ago, I
don't think I should be a central presence to a vigil or protest there.
However, I did come up with the simple idea of an environmental graveyard
outside the entrance to the building, where there is ample room on an as-yet
un-landscaped piece of ground to erect some tombstones to the government
offices, services, and acts that face their demise in the new budget.
Such tombstones could be easily made with sheets of styrofoam
spray-painted with grey paint. The spray slightly corrodes the styrofoam
to give it a rustic stoney surface. A banner or sign saying "Harper's
Cemetery for Science and the Environment" would be needed as well. I would be
willing to compose and print up a statement of concern that could be handed
out as a single sheet.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I'm rather low on energy at the moment. I'm in the midst of major
reworking of my backyard garden and most of my spare time has unfortunately
been diverted to attending funerals or making hospital visits for an unusual
clutch of sick friends and neighbours and caring for a failing aunt. There are
times when such clusters appear in your life.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Any thoughts?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>- Greg <BR>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 16px">
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr" id=divRpF87188><FONT color=#000000 size=2
face=Tahoma><B>From:</B> all-bounces@gren.ca [all-bounces@gren.ca] on behalf
of Daphne NICHOLLS [gordanddaph@sympatico.ca]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, May 21,
2012 9:55 AM<BR><B>To:</B> GREN<BR><B>Subject:</B> [All]
concern<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><BR>Several academic friends are espressing serious concerns
about the Harper Government. Here are suggestiosn from a young scientist,
forwarded by 2 of our friends. Daphne<BR><BR>FYI ........ written by a
young scientist who experienced first hand what has been going on in the
Harper government. Not only will our own health, but that of the entire
ecosystem be affected. There will be serious economic repercussions
which this government seems too short sighted to see. <BR>
<DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Anne and Alan
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>-----------<BR>
<DIV><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 18px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Sans Unicode',Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 12px"
class=ecxApple-style-span>Dear Everyone,</SPAN></DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Sans Unicode',Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 12px"
class=ecxApple-style-span>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">My
name is Naomi. I am Canadian. I worked for Environment Canada, our federal
environmental department, for several years before our current Conservative
leadership (under Stephen Harper) began decimating environmentalism in Canada.
I, along with thousands and thousands of federal science employees lost any
hope of future work. Their attitude towards the environment is ‘screw
research that contradicts the economic growth, particularly of the oil sands’.
They have openly and officially denigrated anyone that supports the
environment and opposes big-money oil profit as ‘radicals’ (<A
style="COLOR: rgb(200,108,0); TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="http://tinyurl.com/7wwf8dp" rel="nofollow nofollow"
target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/7wwf8dp</A>).</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Every
day in Canada, new information about their vendetta on science and the
environment is leaked out. I have been privy to information that is not
released to the public because I retain friendships with my ex-colleagues
(though my blood pressure hates me for it).</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">While
I was working there, scientists were effectively muzzled from speaking to the
media without prior confirmation with Harper’s media team (<A
style="COLOR: rgb(200,108,0); TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="http://tinyurl.com/7bnsqp4" rel="nofollow nofollow"
target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/7bnsqp4</A>) – usually denied, and when
allowed, totally controlled. Scientists were threatened with job loss if they
said anything in an interview that was not exactly what the media team had
told them to say. This happened in 2008. The public didn’t find out for
years.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">During
one of my contracts, I was manager of a large, public database set. Contact
information for all database managers was available for anyone. I knew what
was going on with the information and could answer questions immediately and
personally. During this time, I noticed that a media team from Quebec started
asking me “What would I say” to certain questions. I answered unwittingly.
After a certain period of time, I noticed that all contact information had
been removed from the internet –eliminating the possibility that any member of
the public could inquire directly about supposedly public data. The
Conservatives effectively removed another board from the bridge between
science and the public, and I had inadvertently helped.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Since
then, the Conservative government has been laying off thousands and thousands
of full-fledged scientists that have been performing research for decades (<A
style="COLOR: rgb(200,108,0); TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="http://tinyurl.com/8xtkaro" rel="nofollow nofollow"
target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/8xtkaro</A>), shutting down entire divisions
and radically decimating environmental protection and stewardship in a matter
of a couple years.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">I
am afraid for my country. Canada is the second largest land mass in the world
– though our population is small, you can be sure that when a country that
encompasses 7% of the world’s land mass, and has the largest coastline in the
world says “screw it” to environmental protection, there will be massive
global repercussions.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">The
Conservative leadership have admitted to shutting down environmental research
groups on climate change because “they didn’t like the results” (<A
style="COLOR: rgb(200,108,0); TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="http://tinyurl.com/7kpqk7d" rel="nofollow nofollow"
target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/7kpqk7d</A>), are decimating the Species at
Risk Act (our national equivalent of the IUCN Red list), are decimating
habitat protection for fisheries, are getting rid of one of the most important
water research facilities in the world (Experimental Lakes Area – has been
operational since 1968, and allows for long-term ecosystem studies [<A
style="COLOR: rgb(200,108,0); TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="http://tinyurl.com/cdygbdk" rel="nofollow nofollow"
target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/cdygbdk</A>] ), are getting rid of almost all
scientists that study contaminants in the environment, have backed out of the
Kyoto protocol – and the list goes on and on and on.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Entire
divisions of scientific research are being eliminated. Our land, our animals,
our plants, our environment are losing all the protection that has been
building for decades – a contradictory stance to the rest of the world.
(Please see their proposed omni-bill that basically tells the environment to
go screw itself, while also being presented in an undemocratic, borderline
illegal fashion that limits debate on any of the 70+ changes [<A
style="COLOR: rgb(200,108,0); TEXT-DECORATION: none"
href="http://tinyurl.com/89ys2nf" rel="nofollow nofollow"
target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/89ys2nf</A>]).</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">David
Schindler, a professor from the University of Alberta (and founder of ELA)
quoted. “I think we have a government that considers science an
inconvenience.”</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">I
am writing this to implore every single person to please – look into this
subject, and help us, help ourselves. Contact your MP, the Fisheries minister,
Stephen Harper, anyone, everyone. I can’t sit by and just post rants on my
Facebook page anymore. Share this letter, discuss, anything. Canada is an
important nation environmentally, and our leadership doesn’t give a fig for
science or the environment. But we do. This Conservative minority leadership
was voted in on a thin string in the lowest voter election turnout in recent
history, but thanks to our ridiculous voting laws, have 100% full power to do
whatever they want. And in the name of short-term monetary oil profit, they
have realized that science and the environments is a threat to their goals,
and are doing everything possible to eliminate both.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">We
are depressed, and frustrated, and mad, and need all the help we can get to
protect the value of science and our environment. In the age of globalization,
intentional stone-age evilness is going to affect everyone. We share our
waters, air, and cycles with all of you. Science IS a candle in the dark, and
we cannot let greed extinguish that flame. What happens in Canada – will
happen everywhere.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Thank
you.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Sincerely,</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1.2em; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">A
Canadian that cares about science and the environment</P>
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<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>All mailing
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