The Absolute Irresponsibility of Rona Ambrose

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RonaIt was in November of 2006 that Rona Amrose confirmed to the world that she was not fit to be a Minister of the Environment. Having felt the heat at early international meetings on Climate Change, this rookie minister in the new Harper Conservative Reform Alliance Party (CRAP) government, made herself conspicuously absent from the UN Conference on Climate Change in Nairobi, Kenya. She sent in her departure notice as Chair of the Conference electronically, at the same time confirming that “Our CRAP Government™” would not be able to meet it’s Kyoto oblligations. This earned Canada it’s first “Fossil of the Year” Award.

2006 was quite a year for this new CRAP government; within months of taking office, they had shut down the Environment Canada website, eliminated the One Tonne Challenge program (which my American colleagues had called “the best citizen awareness program on climate change action in the Americas”), censored Environment Canada scientists, and shredded the youth voice inclusion from Students On Ice in the CoP11 UN Convention on Biodiversity.

Last week, Ms. Ambrose, now repackaged as the Minister of Health, announced to the world that it was “irresponsible” of parents to ignore the overwhelming science behind the safety of vaccinations. So, the overwhelming consensus of 95% of practicing, published and peer reviewed climate change scientists can be ignored, but don’t mess with my measles vaccine.

Now, good citizens of Canada, follow the money trail here. Big Pharmaceutical companies have as much influence as Big Oil companies on governmental decisions. There is more going on here that the safety of our children. Granted, I do have trust in most of what my doctors tell me, and my children have all had their appropriate vaccinations. However, the massive advertising for everything from Hepatitus to HPV to the Flu (that really worked this year, eh?) has me wondering.

Big Pharm spends millions of dollars in focus groups and with advertising companies to figure out how to convince us to fear for our health and buy their products. They also make billions of dollars in sales and government approved vaccination programs. So there is a healthy profit in keeping us “healthy.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 150,000 deaths yearly from measles. It is conservatively estimated that there are 3,000,000 deaths yearly (one research group, DARA, takes that up to 5,000,000)  from climate change related heat waves, cold snaps, insect disease vector expansion, food production changes, and  water, air and soil pollution from the fossil fuel industry. The WHO currently estimates that there will be an additonal 250,000 deaths per year due to accelerating climate change.

And yet, Ms. Ambrose, you chose to throw your support behind the science of vaccinations and the safety of a few hundred in Canada , selectively ignoring the science behind accelerating climate change and the security of seven billion in our global community.

Once when I questionned why our First Nations peoples are still trying to access clean drinking water and adequate sewage systems. a wise young friend replied, “It’s because they have no economic value to our government. Just like the Palestinians.” And I would add, climate change scientists.

I wonder if there is a vaccine to prevent irresponsibility. I know just the politicians on whom it could be tested.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon

 

 

 

 

The Federal Party That Gets My Vote

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images-4There is supposed to be a federal election in Canada on October 19, 2015. Of course that is all dependent on oil prices, the Mike Duffy trial, and “wag the dog” terror alerts. On the other hand, by then enough members of federal parliament may have crossed the floor to the opposition parties to make an election unnecessary .

Whatever happens, the Party for whom I vote will champion the following policies: a carbon tax; elimination of subsidies to oil, gas, and coal industries; strong financial support for alternative energy research and development,; a polluter pay/precautionary principle applied to all industry; the return of the Long Form Census; and the creation of a Minister of Ecology who is on equal footing with the Minister of Economy, both of whom report to the Minister of the Environment who is second in rank only to the Prime Minister.

I will vote for the Party that balances social justice with economic development, that stops talking about hard-working, law-abiding, tax-paying Canadians, and starts talking about ALL Canadians.

I will vote for the Party that eliminates every Economic Action Plan ad and logo ever created, and invests an amount equal to all of the money wasted on those ads into a Commission for the Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women.

I will vote for a Party the resurrects, refines, and passes the Kelowna Accord. And National Child Care.

I will vote for the Party that truly honours our veterans, stops using our armed forces as backdrops for their election campaigns and starts doing something about their need for the best equipment when in harms way, and their need for medical care and support when they return home.

I will vote for the Party that recognzes the impact of accelerating climate change, renews it’s commitment to the original Kyoto Protocl, and leads the world in inspiration and action at the Paris Climate Summit.

I will vote for the Party that is strong on peace, strong on the values of a just society, and is defenders of those who have no voice in this world.

I will vote for the Party that disregards those with the most money and power, and does not cater to the ideologies of ethnic groups only to secure their votes.

I will vote for the Party that raises taxes on corporations and the wealthiest .1%, while closing all of their tax evasion loopholes at the same time.

I will vote for the Party that reforms the last two Omnibus Bills, restores environmental security for our watersheds, rivers, lakes, acquatic life, and brings back the independence of environmental reviews.

I will vote for the Party that blends Proportional Representation into the First Past the Post electoral process, while banning election campaign Robocalls.

If anyone finds a Party out there who can do all that, let me know. Hope springs eternal.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon