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In a couple of weeks, my wife and I leave on a month's vacation and I can hardly wait. Our travels will take us through some of our favourite parks, as well as some new ones. The first leg of our journey will take us through the Crowsnest Pass down to Waterton Lakes National Park and then over to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. We'll likely overnight there and then rise early before sunrise to hike among the hoodoos. Around mid-day, we'll head over to Grasslands National Park. We love this place. If you want wide-open space, this is it! A couple of years ago, we passed through the park and camped on the edge of a broad valley cradling the French River. We drifted off to sleep to a surround-sound chorus of coyotes. Thrilling.

From CBC News posted June 14th, 2012 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/06/14/ns-parks-canada-letter-warning.html

Parks Canada employees across the country have received letters warning they're not allowed to criticize the agency or the federal government.

The directive comes as the agency cuts hundreds of jobs or curtails work hours.

"I am aware that during this time of significant transition, the concept of loyalty can have a very particular meaning. However, as employees of the public sector, our duty is to support the elected government," employees were told.

Workers are not supposed to speak about the cuts, whether at meetings, forums or through social media. Only designated people are allowed to deal with journalists.

Anyone who has an issue is supposed to go through internal processes, like filing a grievance, or talk with a supervisor, human resources manager or the Parks Canada ombudsman.

A copy of the letter, obtained by CBC News, is signed by Chip Bird, field unit superintendent in Cape Breton.

But thousands of federal workers got a similar warning.

In my previous blog, I mentioned that friends of mine were being laid off as a result of the federal budget cuts. One of them is Peter Ross, one of Canada's leading marine toxicologists. Shortly after receiving his lay-off notice, he wrote an opinion piece for Environmental Health News. I offer here the closing paragraph.

"It is with deep regret that I relay news of my termination of employment at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the loss of my dream job. It is with even greater sadness that I learn of the demise of DFO’s entire contaminants research program – regionally and nationally. It is with apprehension that I ponder a Canada without any research or monitoring capacity for pollution in our three oceans, or any ability to manage its impacts on commercial fish stocks, traditional foods for over 300,000 aboriginal people and marine wildlife.

Canada's silence on these issues will be deafening this summer and beyond."

All around me, people are being hurt by the recent budget and legislation cuts being meted out by the ruling party in Ottawa. People I know are being laid off, along with lots of their co-workers, from jobs within Parks Canada, Fisheries & Oceans, and Environment Canada. The stress and pain that this is causing is absolutely terrible. Just take a look at some of the blog entries posted by a friend who recently retired from Parks Canada. Listen to how he felt on April 30th - the day he received an e-mail from a old friend who had just been "surplussed." Feel the anger and sorrow when he laments that the government has "cut into the soul of the national parks" and is creating devastating impacts on many small communities dependent on them.