Mr. Speaker, ozone is critical to life on earth and protects us from harmful ultraviolet or UV radiation from the sun. This radiation causes skin cancer, cataracts, sunburns and local and whole-body immunosuppression. Without the ozone layer, life as we know it would not exist on earth.
Canada has a critical role in monitoring ozone as part of the global observing system for climate in support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Assistant Deputy Minister Karen Dodds has said that he department has two separate technologies that measure ozone, but that budget cuts will mean that the two separate networks won't be maintained.
Why, then, have both the minister and the parliamentary secretary repeatedly stonewalled and said that there will be no cuts to ozone monitoring, especially when their own briefing document is entitled “Ozone monitoring cuts”?
We have also repeatedly heard that ozone monitoring will be maintained in the upper atmosphere. I will now ask the parliamentary secretary, yet again, whether monitoring will be maintained in the lower atmosphere.
The ozonesonde manager has received a workforce adjustment letter. A simple yes or no is all that is required. Sadly, I have absolutely no doubt that the parliamentary secretary will once again fail to answer my question.
Perhaps the parliamentary secretary will answer my third question.
Before a decision was taken to cut the ozone monitoring program, was any research undertaken to assess the adequacy of Canadian contributions to the global observing system for climate in support of the UNFCC, yes or no? If the answer is yes, I would ask that the parliamentary secretary table the relevant documents in the House.
I have a fourth question for the parliamentary secretary.
Was Environment Canada aware of the 2,000,000 square kilometre ozone hole over the Arctic when decisions were made to cut ozone monitoring, yes or no?
I would argue that it was known, as the Nature research paper describing the ozone hole was accepted for publication in May and the cuts were not announced until August.
Moreover, Environment Canada's presentation to the Eighth Meeting of the Ozone Research Managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in May 2011 had a slide titled “An Arctic Ozone 'Hole' ”, meaning that Environment Canada was aware of severe ozone depletion in the Arctic well before the government began to announce its cuts to ozone monitoring and science in June.
That is deplorable. Is the government trying to eliminate science that it finds inconvenient?
The government's cuts to ozone science are absolutely negligent and shocking. They reduce Canada's ability to monitor the environment and respond to problems, reduce our country's ability to explore the links between ozone and climate change and threaten international science and Canada's reputation.
My fifth question is this: how many people work in the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre?
My sixth question is this: does the parliamentary secretary understand that if the person who runs the data centre is let go, the data centre will close?
By what percentage in terms of money and positions was the experimental studies division to be cut? What percentage has been cut? Can the parliamentary secretary table in the House a spreadsheet showing how many people work in the department, how many people received letters and who, if any, had their letters rescinded?
She has told us repeatedly what is not being cut. What I am asking specifically is this: what is being cut?