Environment Canada to axe 60 scientists

Canada's Environment Minister Peter Kent. Environment Canada is sending notices to 60 scientists and other researchers that their jobs are being declared surplus.

The Ottawa Citizen:

Ottawa — Environment Canada is sending notices to 60 scientists and other researchers that their jobs are being declared surplus.

Gary Corbett, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, confirmed his union was notified by the department that surplus notices would be going out this week. They are fallout from the department’s announcement last August that it would be cutting or reassigning 776 people — which is about 10 per cent of the workforce.

But Corbett said the department is under “strict orders” not to reveal precisely what work these surplus scientists are doing. They broadly include engineers, scientists, biologists, climatologists, and chemical analysts from across the country, including 18 or so in the national capital region. They work in areas such as pollution, monitoring water quality, and climate research.

“This exercise is all about money and a government obsessed with the bottom line,” said Corbett.

“While the government pays lip service to protecting the interests of all Canadians, it continues to target science-based departments, the front line, when it comes to protecting our environment and health of our citizens,” he said.

Continue reading here.