Bad Decision-Making, Mr. Harper

What else, one might say, could be expected from a Conservative government, after all? One by one, sensitive funding being cut to programmes that have a certain importance to society; some admittedly, more than others. Feminist enterprises seeing their government funding zapped. A public outcry, somewhat muted, has done nothing to restore funding to programmes such as those dedicated to lobby for changes in legislation which would protect women under the law, when needed.

Then there was the equally controversial decision not to renew government funding for Arctic scientific research. To enable Canadian scientists to better understand the process through which our environment in the North is inexorably undergoing change that may prove to be rather deleterious to this country as well as to the world at large. The scientists involved decry the decision, pointing out the obvious: until and unless we understand the process at work how can we possibly devise potentially ameliorating solutions?

This, from a government newly claiming to be responsive to, vitally interested in, devoting time and resources to fight global warming, and the general degradation of our environment.
Slowly but surely an agenda reveals itself that is more than a little worrisome. Are we a responsible global community or are we not? Are we committed to bettering our society and the world we inhabit, or are we satisfied to coast on inertia?

So here's the Harper government introducing legislation yet again to cancel the long-gun registry originally introduced by the Liberal government under pressure for concerned citizens who want to see more gun control in Canada. The newly-introduced bill seeks to remove the requirement for owners of rifles and shotguns to register their weapons with the government.

The long-gun registry has produced huge cost over-runs, scandalizing the former government almost as much as it did taxpayers, who remain resolutely of the opinion that the registry is needed. As an effective anti-violence measure. Most police forces in the country applaud the initiative, while critics such as hunters and farmers decry it, feeling it would accomplish nothing positive while harassing them.

Canada's Public Safety Department lets us know there are close to seven million registered rifles and shotguns in Canada - out of a population of approximately $32 million. Those are the registered firearms; no knowledge whatever of the greater number of unregistered ones. Since the registry was first introduced in 2003, 2,441 homicides have been recorded, 2% of which were committed with registered rifles and shotguns.

Yet a recently-published book on violence against women in Canada tells a rather different story. The book tracks the incidence of partner-brutality in this country. Admitting that there is a certain percentage of reported incidents of male injury suffered in an abusive partnership - but while that does exist, it pales against the large numbers of women murdered by their controlling partners - using both handguns and long guns.

The latest cost-cutting measure by a government which has lauded its cleverness in posting yet another staggering $14 billion budget surplus has been targeted against an important website promoting good health through the provision of reliable, non-commercial information on how to stay healthy and prevent injury and disease. The Canadian Health Network is scheduled to shut down at the end of March.

Affiliates of the website were blindsided by the decision. Those affiliates include 26 government agencies, and non-government affiliates such as the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the Canadian Diabetes Association, all contributing to the site. They claim, with good reason, that shutting down the site will most certainly adversely affect this country's well-being.

It will deprive citizens - ordinary people, along with members of the medical community - nurses, doctors and additional personnel of access to a priceless source of reliable health information and allied resources.

Bad moves, all, chum.