HOW THINGS HAPPEN (Ozone Part 2)
Environment Canada may not be concerned about the ozone layer and its polar holes but James Drummond (Dalhousie University) reports that the 2011 ozone hole formed in February and March, and eventually grew to two million square kilometres, about twice the size of Ontario. It swung across northern Canada, northern Europe, then dipped down to Central Russia to Northern Asia, prompting scientists to issue warnings about excess ultraviolet radiation.  For more than you ever wanted to know about the Ozone hole check http://www.theozonehole.com/ and its links.
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99 STUPID THINGS THE GOVERNMENT SPENT YOUR MONEY ON (reported by Macleans magazine January 16, 2012).
     Check the links for a list of weird, annoying or funny (depending on your mood)expenditures from all levels of Canadian government in 2012.

 items 1-18: questionable spending on subsidies and infrastructure

items 19-34:  food and job creation

items 35-55:  environment, animals, and money for nothing

items 56-73: when spending is music to a politician’s ears

items 74-99: employee expenses, patronage, makeovers, studies, polls and surveys as well as lawsuits and lawyers.

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ONE MAN’S OPINION – WITH WHICH I SEEM TO AGREE
Winnipeg Free Press January 14, 2012  (Letters to the Editor)
IGNORING THE EXPERTS
Re: Pipeline hearings stacked? Well, yes (Jan 12). Am I living in Canada? Perhaps I woke up in Wonderland. The federal minister of Natural Resources, the guy we pay to protect our air, water and wildlife wants to limit environmental reviews and participation by non-Canadians.
I quote: “These groups threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological goals.” In other words, the use of smart, articulate experts who care for the future of the environment and do not hold the same opinions as our minister are now considered radicals.
Enbridge, the company that plans to build the pipeline from the tarsands to B.C. may look Canadian, but six of its 12 directors are American. Last year, an Enbridge pipeline leaked 840,000 gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.
The Harper government says the pipeline is in the nation’s interest. They are responding to the oil industry lobby by promising to shorten the review process. When did the health of our children, our land, air and water become less vital to the nation’s interest than an oil pipeline? When did we become a country that listens only to those who agree with us?
LARRY ISACOFF
WINNIPEG