Make way for the polluters!

[Bagotricks]

Ottawa to slash environment review role.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2 ... views.html

The federal government is reducing the number of departments and agencies that can do environmental reviews from 40 to just three to speed up approvals for projects that will bolster Canada's economy, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said today

From 40 agencies down to 3. Do we think the environment wont be effected?

Industry got their card blanche wishlist and then some.

The overall impact from the government's move comes not just from changing the rules, but from cutting budgets of federal departments such as Environment Canada, and firing hundreds of scientists who currently contribute to the environmental review process and work to protect Canadians from environmental disasters.

"What's really happening here is that the federal government is abdicating its responsibility and trying to get out of the protecting-the-environment business," Sierra Club's Bennett said. "Why don't they go all the way and shut down Environment Canada and be honest and say, 'We don't give a *bleep*'? Because that's what they're doing."

We elected Lockheed Martin™ and Suncor™ into the Harper Government™, obviously.

[Drongoman]

This is fantastic news! 40 agencies? Talk about stupidity and massive redunancy. This should have been done years ago. Way to go Harper! Any day you can *bleep* off the radical lefist fools at the Sierra Club is a great day indeed. Keep up the good work boys and girls!

[grammafreddy]

About time government trimmed itself.

[Captain Awesome]

...too bad they do it 3 years after the economy crashed and they showed deficit.

But I guess better late than never.

[Bagotricks]

...people actually think this was "to cut costs"?

I was speaking from a sheer logistical viewpoint.

The less system checks, the more accidents.

We only have one Canada. No mulligans.

[Drongoman]

...people actually think this was "to cut costs"?

yup - trim fat, get rid of miles of needless bureaucracy and red tape that served no purpose. Just like the Liberals had to do when they came into power in BC, unwind the giant bureaucracy that served no purpose and cost the government millions upon millions in salaries to useless bureaucrats. This is a great move by the government, and hopefully will streamline many projects, which in turn helps the economy and creates many jobs, without any damage to the environment, as those useless bureaucrats weren't there for the environment anyway, it was all about the fatcat bureaucracy. This is such great news. Anytime those fools at the Sierra Club are unhappy, I'm happy, as those buttheads stand in the way of anything and everything, just on principle, because they are basically fund-raising communists, not environmentalists.

[Bagotricks]

Its not the greed of the oil companies we should be worried about - but the greed of bureaucracy! lol!

[Drongoman]

Its not the greed of the oil companies we should be worried about - but the greed of bureaucracy! lol!

No - not the greed of bureaucracy, its the stupidity, the wasting of time, the extra cost, the loss of jobs, and ultimately the negative affects on the economy. Then count the cost of the massive salaries to these useless losers employed by the government to do basically nothing. If you've ever conceived of, planned and financed a major resource project, you'll know, time is money, and the faster you can get through the approvals process, the more money you save, and the closer you are to being on time. As long as the environmental review process is thorough, then why do you need to go through 40 agencies? That is just plain stupid, adds many costs, delays projects and adds no value to anyone.

The Sierra Club may cry and whine, and so may Screeching Owl May, but they have to moan and cry, as their funding is dependent on spreading lies about how "bad" any sort of economic development is, and how we need these hundreds (perhaps thousands) of peons employed by multiple agencies to do the same assessments, over and over again. They aren't needed. And they are a massive drain. So it's not "greed" of bureaucracy, its so many other things, and now these bums are getting cut. About time, and good riddance.

[Captain Awesome]

...people actually think this was "to cut costs"?

I was speaking from a sheer logistical viewpoint.

Well, the new budget cut costs in all departments, in case you don't know.

Kelowna CRA office had to lay some people off. Harper's government doesn't want taxes following your logistical viewpoint?
Also, our immigration office has been shut down too (and people laid off). Harper govt doesn't want to help immigrants? I'm actually surprised you haven't created a thread how Harper hates brown people based on that spin.

[Bagotricks]

Harper govt doesn't want to help immigrants? I'm actually surprised you haven't created a thread how Harper hates brown people based on that spin.

Naw I just have to watch CPAC and see the Punjab MP w/turban placed infront of the camera directly behind Mr. Harper to know the Conservatives love brown people. Oh and women too. That MP's relatives just have to travel to Calgary or Vancouver now to deal with Immigration Canada, no big deal. Nobody really lives between those two cities anyways.

Slashing "some" things is ok, not saying that.

40 agencies down to 3.

If we had 400 traffic cops in BC and reduced it to 30, shall we celebrate the tax dollars saved or take out extra auto insurance?

Are we pretending that this wasn't a "dream wishlist" of the oil and energy companies looking to tap our land and not have to worry about the after effects?

Are we pretending this current government isn't literally owned by oil and big business? Lockheed Martin already partially owns The Harper Government™, as demonstrated.

I guess so. Its all about tax savings! It's "pretend" day here on Castanet-dot-door!

[Drongoman]

It's "pretend" day here on Castanet-dot-door!

with the radical leftists on this site, every day is "pretend" day. Also "make up fake problems and complain about them" day is every other day, and "Let's blame Harper for everything, including that earthquake in Chile" is every Wednesday.

[Captain Awesome]

If we had 400 traffic cops in BC and reduced it to 30, shall we celebrate the tax dollars saved or take out extra auto insurance?

Well, the story you've posted doesn't say that at all.

[steven lloyd]

From 40 agencies down to 3. Do we think the environment wont be effected?

Sorry Bago, but the critics are right. I work in government and see first-hand just how frustrating it is to work with redundant bureaucracies. This is the reason all these agencies are unable to staff themselves with the people who do the actual work. I’d rather have three adequately funded and staffed agencies capable of doing the job than forty under-funded and under-staffed agencies spinning their wheels in the sand. When you have to go through three ministries to get approval to buy a stapler for your office you know you have a problem (we just bring them from home).

Take a look at what’s happened in BC under BC Liberal governance. The Liberals made reckless cuts to positions of people who did the actual work and replaced them with additional bureaucrats, ministers, deputy ministers, assistant ministers and assistant deputy ministers. Wow, did things ever get efficient after that. You see how streamlined our Courts have gotten since the BC Liberals came into power? Talk about building a giant bureaucracy that has served no purpose and cost the government (us) many hundreds of thousands in salaries to useless bureaucrats and now we’re having to hire inexperienced people and train them (at great cost) to replace the trained and experienced people we lost.

We better hire a couple of more bureaucrats to oversee that.

[GrooveTunes]

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Politics/1244504890/ID=2224026871

Great interview.

[Nebula]

40 agencies down to 3.

If we had 400 traffic cops in BC and reduced it to 30, shall we celebrate the tax dollars saved or take out extra auto insurance?

That's a really bad comparison. Apples and oranges. You're talking about the number of agencies in one sentence and the number of people in another.