Where to from here -
The universe has declared war on the woodland caribou of Labrador ... The universe and the Department of National Defense (DND) that is.
The DND recently forked over $500,000 to Captecom Inc. to market 5 Wing Goose Bay for military expansion. The minister of defense was in St. John's on April 30th being intentionally vague about the details surrounding the massive marketing campaign and as it turns out, rightly so. I mean, how do you announce the German military is already unpacking when no one knows they're moving in, right?
What's more impressive is renting out a house you don't own. Now that's ballsy. No, instead of confessing, Peter MacKay stated there was "no time frame in terms of what can be delivered."
Bold. Face. Lie.
Are we expected to believe that the minister of defense was unaware the German military had been dropping 3,500 kilogram lots of construction material out of the back of transport planes for close to two weeks at that point?
If so, I call for the minster's resignation immediately cause you should be keeping a better eye on things than that. He knew. You knows he knew but he had no way to explain himself as the deal is laden with unethical politics. Aside from the blatant disregard for ongoing aboriginal ancestral land claims, the government would have to face environmental groups pleading on behalf of the woodland caribou herds of Labrador. I don't usually throw my lot in with the animal rights crowd but on this matter I can't refuse siding with the works of them.
The woodland caribou herds of Labrador consist of the majority of caribou on planet earth. Choosing to ignore their decreasing numbers is akin to signing the species extinction papers. It seems the provincial and federal governments have absolutely no problem in doing so as it has been proven repeatedly that low level flying negatively impacts the herd's survival. The Innu have been protesting the low level flying consistently since it was first introduced as it threatens the caribou herds and in doing so, their heritage. The government chooses to ignore the opinions of the very people who have resided in the region for 9,000 years.
Now that's just rude.
Though the government of Canada rarely displays anything even remotely mannerly when dealing with the country's native residents. Imagine, someone walks right into your house and proceeds to eat every speck of food in your kitchen with no intention or means of replacing it.
Imagine that.
Studies have shown that calf survival is negatively correlated with exposure to low level flying activity. There are increased instances of stillbirths, injuries and cow-calf separation. Caribou run when they feel threatened and will continue to run until said threat is perceived to cease. Caribou can't recognize it's just training!
They're animals dealing with military jets playing mock war fifty feet above their heads. It's not surprising then when a number of animals are found to have run themselves to death. It just makes sense.
But sense rarely enters conversations where the almighty quick buck is concerned. Like, why would we offer up our pristine wildlife to a military that refuses to train in their own country because it was deemed unsafe?
Seriously, stopping the third world treatment of Labrador is long overdue. Plundering our resources for some spending cash with no where-with-all given to the consequences even more so. After years of ranting about 'foreign' fleets overfishing we have the nerve to pimp out Labrador. Who will we be blamed when the caribou herds plummet even further? I suppose we will demand the Innu stop hunting entirely. Yes, sure I guess we'll blame it on the very same group that practiced sustainable hunting for thousands of years.
Enough already.
Let's not be known the world over for the destruction of another of our province's natural resources. Let's not ignorantly sacrifice another species at the will of our government. Joey taught us that lesson already, let's show everyone we learned it.
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