Is Canada dismantling their history?

brianlux

Just received this link from a friend with the following note:

"I am astounded by this news. Canada is a hugely important nation and they are dismantling their history, the record of what their country has done and how it was governed. I am nearly speechless. When you have no history or it is so dispersed that no one can piece it together, it is much easier for lies and misinformation to take hold. To me this is frightening. I thought the Canadians were a sane people."

http://www.savelibraryarchives.ca/update-2012-05.aspx

Wonder what our friends from the north can tell us about this?

brianlux

And another note just received from a Canadian friend of the friend who sent the link:

"Yes, this is true. However, you have to realize whatʼs going on up here in the frozen north. Itʼs worth a close look because it foreshadows what will likely happen in the US should the Republicans come into a position of absolute power. Our Conservative party, which is a little farther right than your Tea Party, has a majority of seats in our House of Commons and they control the Senate, for what thatʼs worth. So, in essence they can do whatever they want without retribution until the next election (3 years). They are effectively dismantling most of our public institutions that donʼt follow their ideology. They donʼt see the value of maintaining a national archive, so theyʼre eliminating it. This is just a start; sadly, thereʼs much more.

By and large, we are a sane people... until we get to the ballot box."

gibbits

LOL, your friend told you the Conservative Party of Canada was more right leaning than the Tea Party? Hilarious.

know1

What's even in the Canadian National Archive - the records of how they enacted a bunch of holidays that basically copy the US's ?

polaris_x

know1 wrote:

What's even in the Canadian National Archive - the records of how they enacted a bunch of holidays that basically copy the US's ?

outside of christmas and new years (which i don't think the US owns) ... we share little in holidays ... labour day maybe? ... victoria day, canada day, civic holiday, thanksgiving ... they all celebrate different things ...

anyhoo - brian, your friend is right ... our prime minister is a fascist ... the problem here is they are the only right wing party ... and their political base (alberta) is where big oil is ... and they essentially all vote for this party ... feel free to read the canadian politics thread for more insight ...

edit: there is also mounting evidence that they frauded part of the last election ...

catefrances

LAC is abandoning its commitment to acquire and maintain a comprehensive collection of Canada’s documentary heritage. LAC officials argue that a “representative” collection is all that is possible in the “digital age.”

why?

brianlux

catefrances wrote:

LAC is abandoning its commitment to acquire and maintain a comprehensive collection of Canada’s documentary heritage. LAC officials argue that a “representative” collection is all that is possible in the “digital age.”

why?

Very good question!

Drowned Out

polaris_x wrote:

know1 wrote:

What's even in the Canadian National Archive - the records of how they enacted a bunch of holidays that basically copy the US's ?

outside of christmas and new years (which i don't think the US owns) ... we share little in holidays ... labour day maybe? ......

Labour day began in Canada in 1872, with a strike by the Typographical Union in Toronto. The strike was commemorated with an annual parade that was witnessed and imitated by Americans. Both countries made it a national holiday in 1894. Next

Drowned Out

...ya Brian, check out the Canadian Politics thread. Your friend is right that this government is not just dismantling (or attempting to) the archive, but every institution that doesn't align with it's ideology. They have muzzled federal scientists so that they can't criticize government policy. They muzzled our federal police - statements made by the RCMP must pass government approval before being released. They've even muzzled their own Members of Parliament as a form of damage control. They've repeatedly passed motions to limit parliamentary debate on what are called 'omnibus' bills - several pieces of legislation wrapped into a single bill. They use these bills to pass 'hidden', unpopular legislation, while sensationalizing other aspects of the bill to make it seem imperative that the bill be passed. They have brought in mandatory minimum drug sentences and a massive expansion of our criminal/penal system to go with it, using this technique. They've tried several times to pass online spying bills (and currently are trying again). They've cut funding to our national media.
All this without even getting into the examples of corruption.

The issue of the day is a bill going thru parliament that is 'needed' in order to implement the budget they've proposed. It makes changes to 70, yes SEVENTY laws in one fell swoop.

Here is a list of the changes made in this bill, to environmental law alone:

Canadian Environmental Assessment Act ditched. Repealed and replaced with a completely new act. "Environmental effects" under the new CEAA will be limited to effects on fish, aquatic species under the Species at Risk Act, migratory birds. A broader view of impacts is limited to federal lands, Aboriginal peoples, and changes to the environment "directly linked or necessarily incidental" to federal approval. 


Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency seriously weakened. The agency will have 45 days after receiving an application to decide if an assessment is required. Environmental assessments are no longer required for projects involving federal money. The minister is given wide discretion to decide. New "substitution" rules allow Ottawa to download EAs to the provinces; "comprehensive" studies are eliminated. Cabinet will be able to over-rule decisions. A retroactive section sets the clock at July 2010 for existing projects.


Canadian Environmental Protection Act undercut. The present one-year limit to permits for disposing waste at sea can now be renewed four times. The three and five-year time limits protecting species at risk from industrial harm will now be open-ended.


Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act killed. This legislation, which required government accountability and results reporting on climate change policies, is being repealed.


Fisheries Act seriously weakened. Fish habitat provisions will be changed to protect only fish of "commercial, Aboriginal, and recreational" value and even those habitat protections are weakened. The new provisions create an incentive to drain a lake and kill all the fish, if not in a fishery, in order to fill a dry hole with mining tailings.


Navigable Waters Protection Act hampered. Pipelines and power lines will be exempt from the provisions of this act. Also, the National Energy Board absorbs the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) whenever a pipeline crosses navigable waters. The NWPA is amended to say a pipeline is not a "work" within that act.


Energy Board Act neutered. National Energy Board reviews will be limited to two years -- and then its decisions can be reversed by the cabinet, including the present Northern Gateway Pipeline review.


Species at Risk Act hamstrung. This is being amended to exempt the National Energy Board from having to impose conditions to protect critical habitat on projects it approves. Also, companies won't have to renew permits on projects threatening critical habitat.


Parks Canada Agency Act trimmed, staff cut. Reporting requirements are being reduced, including the annual report. Six hundred and thirty eight of the nearly 3,000 Parks Canada workers will be cut. Environmental monitoring and ecological restoration in the Gulf Islands National Park are being cut.


Canadian Oil and Gas Operations Act made more industry friendly. This will be changed to exempt pipelines from the Navigational Waters Act.


Coasting Trade Act made more offshore drilling friendly. This will be changed to promote seismic testing allowing increased off-shore drilling.


Nuclear Safety Control Act undermined. Environmental assessments will be moved to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which is a licensing body not an assessing body -- so there is a built-in conflict.


Canada Seeds Act inspections privatized. This is being revamped so the job of inspecting seed crops is transferred from Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspectors to "authorized service providers," the private sector.


Agriculture affected. Under the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act, publicly-owned grasslands have acted as community pastures under federal management, leasing grazing rights to farmers so they could devote their good land to crops, not livestock. This will end. Also, the Centre for Plant Health in Sidney, B.C., an important site for quarantine and virus-testing on plant stock strategically located across the Salish Sea to protect B.C.'s primary agricultural regions, will be moved to the heart of B.C.'s fruit and wine industries.


National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy killed. The NRTEE brought industry leaders, environmentalists, First Nations, labour, and policy makers together to provide non-partisan research and advice on federal policies. Its demise will leave a policy vacuum in relation to Canada's economic development.


More attacks on environmental groups funded. The charities sections now preclude gifts which may result in political activity. The $8 million new money to harass charities is unjustified.


Water programs cut. Environment Canada is cutting several water-related programs and others will be cut severely, including some aimed at promoting or monitoring water-use efficiency. 


Wastewater survey cut. The Municipal Water and Wastewater Survey, the only national study of water consumption habits, is being cut after being in place since 1983. 


Monitoring effluent cut. Environment Canada's Environmental Effects Monitoring Program, a systematic method for measuring the quality of effluent discharge, including from mines and pulp mills, will be cut by 20 per cent.
http://m.thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/05/10/Bill-C38/

fife

know1 wrote:

What's even in the Canadian National Archive - the records of how they enacted a bunch of holidays that basically copy the US's ?

also how we beat America in the war of 1812

but going back to the point. while I hate our current government< i would say that your friend is wrong . they not close to the tea party in the US.

but they are much more right wing then us Canadians are used too. as someone else said above, the main issue is that the left is separated into 3 parties while the right has just the one.

Drowned Out

You KNOW things are bad up here when Americans start paying attention to our politics. I think there have been nearly as many threads about Canada in the last few months as there have been about the US.

Idris

Drowned Out wrote:

You KNOW things are bad up here when Americans start paying attention to our politics. I think there have been nearly as many threads about Canada in the last few months as there have been about the US.

hhehe!! Yea as we slowly, step by step move towards being a State Of the US or like thereof, Our politics is their politics.