The Politics of Science

Hey Team!

First I am sorry that once again, this blog is being very sporadic. I know that the makings of a good blog is consistency, but if you haven't learned this by now with this blog, my life in anything but consistent! And as this is all about things I learn as I learn them, there are times that I am not learning much.

Second, this is going to be a very Canada-centred blog post, but if you reading this from another country (hello from Canada!), I hope that it can somehow be relevant to you as well. If not, you might just be lucky (or possibly extra unlucky).

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Canada seems to be going through a very interesting bout of politics at the moment. Almost as interesting to us as the US politics, which is a big deal. We had a lot of fun about a year ago, when we had to have a re-election and the same party that held a minority government got voted in again, but with a majority government.

Which to most people would make you think that Canada wanted them in power, yes? I mean, we a democratic country and we vote in the people we want in government. Personally, I think we have it pretty sweet, considering the alternatives.

But of course, not everyone is happy with our current government. And I don't expect them to be. Democracies function out of a collective of ideas, not singular ideologies.

I'm rambling again, let's re-focus this post...

The Conservative Party, the current Canadian government, has a certain way of running the country. It has kept us out of deep economic turmoil and has some pretty strong opinions on our foreign front. But where it is sorely lacking is in its support of scientific (mostly biological and environmental) research and funding.

The collective "we" of the science community have had some serious issues with government policies over the last few months. Budget cuts have meant cutting entire labs that are looking into some really important labs, prominent scientists are now job hunting and practices that we know are detrimental to the environment (see oil, fishing) are still going with no signs of slowing down.

And, like I've said in the past (over and over again), there is no money anywhere. But sometimes it's difficult to watch government money go to other programs when we are struggling to make ends meet.

Now, I'm not a politician. I don't understand politics. I am the last person to get on a soapbox and say I can do it better than the people in Parliament. And I know that there is so much more to running a country than being concerned about the environment (which is why I never vote for the Green Party). And I also don't believe that either of the other two major parties in Canada would actually do a better job if they were in power. It's really easy to promise the voters change when you have no control over anything (like how I think it should be really easy to change over all electricity to solar power).

Scientists are passionate people. If we weren't, we'd be pretty bad at our jobs. Which means that most scientists have really strong opinions on how the country is run, and we tend to focus on things most important to us, like the environment, the animals and of course, the financial support to do the research that we believe will save the world (which I do actually believe we are doing).

But when you have more than one interest in political parties, it can get difficult. I don't agree with a lot of the choices the Conservatives are making environmentally. I don't think letting go of DFO researchers, shutting down labs and opening new fisheries are smart ideas. I would love for them to stop funnelling money into the Alberta oil companies and start financing solar power research (can you tell I'm super into solar power?).

But, I like that I can still find some kind of job when I really need one. I like that this government seems to be doing its best stand strong against international madness and is actually speaking out against racism here in our own backyard. I like that they aren't trying to create and fund more social programs that we can't afford, because I really don't want to pay more taxes on everything I buy.

So sometimes I feel really stuck. I love the fact that people are passionate about the politics of the country, because we should demand the best of our government. But how do you balance their passionate displeasure with your more neutral approach? Sometimes it's hard to smile and nod and agree with their vehement dislike of the government, because while I agree with the issue at hand, I have a lot more than just environmental interest in our government.

I'm not sure if there is a lesson here, or if this was just a ramble. I definitely believe that you should question whoever is in power, and if they do something you don't like, you should say something. We have the privilege of living in a country that lets us do that. And we won't be able to make the most forceful impact on our environment without governmental support, and I really wish we had more from our current government. But at the same time, we have to remember that there is a lot that goes into running a country, more than just what is good for the environment.

Leave an opinion, I am really curious to hear what people think. Please feel free to agree or disagree, just be nice about it!

Speak Loud!

Talkin' on the Docks

This is probably one of my most uncreative titles, because I'm going to talk about Dock Talks.

Cetus and their straitwatch program is all about making sure people are respecting the whale watching guidelines the government has for killer whales and other awesome cetaceans. So while we do go out and actually try to stop people from doing bad things (more on that in a future blog post), what we are really about it prevention.

I think conservationists and maybe surgeons are some of the few people that would love to have no reason to exist. If there was no reason for conservationists to work, they'd be so happy, because it would mean that no animals were in any danger. That would be awesome!

So part of what we do is go canvassing around marinas, and stop and chat with local boat owners and see how much they know about the guidelines, and educate them on what the guidelines are if they don't know. We try to get them to take a brochure with all the rules and such on it, but it's more important that we talk to them, give them the information and sometimes we get to hear some really interesting stories. One of my favourites so far includes was a man who was given an honourary guardian status from a native american tribe for cleaning the beaches on their island. That was really neat to hear.

For this part of the job, introverts need not apply. You have to be pretty comfortable to walk up to total strangers who think you are going to sell them something and tell them about safe whale watching. It can't sound like you are accusing them, and you have to know how to smile and nod when they say ridiculous things (it happens). If you are shy and too scared to approach people, then you'll never talk to people. I, myself, is in no way an introvert, but even I was a little awkward when I had to do it on my own.

And it can get really monotonous. The marina that I have gone to for all my dock talks so far (the only one I know how to find) isn't huge, but you have to stick about for a couple hours to get as many people as possible. And the weather hasn't been top notch (can you believe I'm missing the weather back home?), so the water hasn't been drawing a big crowd. So I do a complete walk of the marina, talk to a couple people... and it's only been half an hour. I think the last dock talk I did I walked the entire marina at least 4 times in the 3 hours I was there. It wasn't so bad when I had a partner, but alone it can be a little lonely, and a smidge boring.

But I started this entire blog screaming that nothing about being a Marine Biologist is glamourous. This is just another example.

I think I'll learn where another marina is and go there next time. Switch it up and meet some new people.

Speak Loud!