It 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
While I was reading your column I could not help but laugh out loud because your comments are so well barbed with humour and other delightful English tidbits. You hit the nail on the head over and over and over again my friend.
Most politicians and CEOs of corporations don’t know how to tell the truth and they have proven this time and time and time again, so – As citizens of the world we need to start turning this whole “terrorist” mindset around because it is NOT the environmentalist who are the “terrorists” – it is the government; big oil/gas corporations (Exxon Mobil; Kinder Morgan; Chevron; BP; Shell; Enbridge); corporations like: Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, BASF, NESTLE, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Pepsico, Mars, Unilever, Coca Cola, Danone, General Foods, and Cargill who are the ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORISTS, NOT the rest of us – not the citizens who care deeply about the health of our planet. Not the citizens who absolutely depend on clean water for our livelihood. Not the citizens who no longer want to be poisoned by GMOs. Not the citizens who have the right to a healthy environment. We need to create a paradigm shift; making these points in all the courts; in ALL the media and on every website possible. We need to change our thinking and our tactics 180 degrees – we are NOT the environmental terrorists – THEY are, and THEY need to be stopped. THEY need to change the way THEY treat us, as citizens, and the way THEY treat Mother Earth because what they are doing is ECOCIDE. If you agree with this please copy and share with as many others as you would like.
Take care my friend. Stay healthy and happy.