Welcome to RCI’s the Link Online
ListenHello Im MM, and the regular team is back together after the holiday.. WOjtek who handled the ship alone last week is here,…. and like me after a couple of weeks away, Lynn Desjardins joins us.
Starting us off, an ongoing controversy pitting the scientific world against the federal government’s austerity measures. T
he government has asked agencies to cut expenditures and one of the deicisions is to close 7 of the 11 Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Environment Canada libraries across the country.
This has caused great dismay to scientists and researchers. Many research books and documents are being discarded. DFO says only duplicates are being thrown out, while others are being digitized. Reaction to these statements has been met with skepticism.
We hear from a well-respected university marine biologist, Jeffrey Hutchings at Dalhousie University in Halifax
Than with the New Year, comes New Year’s resolutions…as people make promises to rid themselves of bad habits.
These include typical resolutions such as to stop smoking, go on diets, reduce spending..those kinds of thngs.
Although always made with te best of intentions, it seems that following up on those resolutions, especially over the long term is not always easy.
Lynn speaks to Andy Blicq, writer and director of the documentary “Slaves to Habit”.
Most people, including most Canadians, are not aware that Canada has an important weapons and arms industry. It’s worth billions of dollars annually, but because Canada’s own military and defence budget is so small, the industry depends on exports.
Increasingly the Canadian government is trying to help the industry by developing export markets.
However, there’s a delicate balance as to selling arms abroad, and whether they might end up in country’s and regions where human rights violations are a concern.
Wojtek speaks with Kenneth Epps, the Senior Program Officer at the Project Ploughshares, a church-backed non-governmental organization.
We hope you enjoy the show and as always we love to hear your comments about the show and articles we present.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.