OTTAWA - Cuts to federal environmental research and monitoring jobs are proceeding in the absence of a substantial review of the government's existing scientific work and its value to Canadians, critics said Thursday.
``These cuts to personnel and ultimately what's going to mean a cut to programs are being done in a vacuum of information regarding the importance of those programs or why they're there in the first place,'' said Thomas Duck, an atmospheric scientist who teaches at Dalhousie University. ``This happened, for example, last summer when they first announced the cuts and gave everyone in the ozone (monitoring) section one of those workforce adjustment letters.''
But a spokesman for Environment Minister Peter Kent said the department identified items for consideration after conducting a review of administrative and operational practices.
``Decisions were weighed against (the) core mandate,'' said Kent's communications director Rob Taylor. ``In total our contribution amounts to about five per cent of our current budget. These savings are to be achieved over the next three years.''
Duck, who collaborates on some research with scientists in government, said he was concerned not only about looming cuts at Environment Canada but also other federal bodies such as the Canadian Space Agency, which has been active in environmental research for decades, but could suddenly see the elimination of some work such as Earth observation.
One internal government email, obtained by the federal New Democrats also revealed that the federal budget would require Environment Canada to chop three per cent of its workforce, on top of other reductions already in progress.
``We're just sort of piecing it all together,'' said NDP environment critic Megan Leslie. ``It doesn't look like there's any rhyme or reason to it and it seems really reckless . . . It's just getting rid of people without thinking about what that means.''
Leslie also noted that the email warned employees that some would not have any guarantees of getting another job posting within government. She said this suggested that those cuts would specifically affect scientists doing specific research and who cannot be reassigned to new roles.
Kent's office said that the three per cent reduction over that period would amount to about 200 people out of a total workforce of 6,800 in the department.
``These proposed cuts will not impact on the department's ability or capacity to conduct science and research,'' Taylor said.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza
``These cuts to personnel and ultimately what's going to mean a cut to programs are being done in a vacuum of information regarding the importance of those programs or why they're there in the first place,'' said Thomas Duck, an atmospheric scientist who teaches at Dalhousie University. ``This happened, for example, last summer when they first announced the cuts and gave everyone in the ozone (monitoring) section one of those workforce adjustment letters.''
But a spokesman for Environment Minister Peter Kent said the department identified items for consideration after conducting a review of administrative and operational practices.
``Decisions were weighed against (the) core mandate,'' said Kent's communications director Rob Taylor. ``In total our contribution amounts to about five per cent of our current budget. These savings are to be achieved over the next three years.''
Duck, who collaborates on some research with scientists in government, said he was concerned not only about looming cuts at Environment Canada but also other federal bodies such as the Canadian Space Agency, which has been active in environmental research for decades, but could suddenly see the elimination of some work such as Earth observation.
One internal government email, obtained by the federal New Democrats also revealed that the federal budget would require Environment Canada to chop three per cent of its workforce, on top of other reductions already in progress.
``We're just sort of piecing it all together,'' said NDP environment critic Megan Leslie. ``It doesn't look like there's any rhyme or reason to it and it seems really reckless . . . It's just getting rid of people without thinking about what that means.''
Leslie also noted that the email warned employees that some would not have any guarantees of getting another job posting within government. She said this suggested that those cuts would specifically affect scientists doing specific research and who cannot be reassigned to new roles.
Kent's office said that the three per cent reduction over that period would amount to about 200 people out of a total workforce of 6,800 in the department.
``These proposed cuts will not impact on the department's ability or capacity to conduct science and research,'' Taylor said.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza
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