More than 24,000 federal public servants have received notices that their jobs could be at risk. That is on top of the 9800 public service employees who were already let go last year. Host Sam Konnert takes us inside the government, specifically, inside a single lab within Environment and Climate Change Canada. A lab tasked with making sure our water is clean and our food is plastic-free. A lab that could go from nine PhD-level scientists, down to one.

What happens to the country when these workers get cut, and entire labs are decimated? Who pays the price?

Host: Sam Konnert

Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Host/Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Mia Johnson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork)

Guests: Shirley Tagalik, Christine Bishop

Background reading:

25,000 public servants warned their jobs could be at risk. Here is the latest on federal job cuts – CTV News
Five charts to help visualize public service job cuts – Ottawa Citizen
Feds target hundreds of Environment and Climate Change Canada workers putting 'public safety and the environment at risk' – Canada’s National Observer
Carney’s government is cutting hundreds of environment and science jobs. Here’s what that means for Canadians – CBC News

Sponsors:

Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today at douglas.ca/canadaland

Visit fizz.ca to learn more about Fizz mobile and its long list of added-value features, and activate a first plan using the referral code CAN25 to get 25$ off and 10GB of free data.

Your emotional well-being matters. Find yours and feel lighter. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/Canadaland

Did you know we have a monthly supporter-exclusive show? We just recorded an episode about rabbit holes, deep dives and obsessions. What’s a rabbit hole you fell (or almost fell) into?

If you want to hear that (or if you want to catch up on all the great episodes of Off The Record you’ve missed!), you can listen to these amazing, support-exclusive episodes for cheap RIGHT NOW by going to canadaland.com/join. You’ll get 70% off your membership for a limited time.

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.

Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carney Cuts The Scientists Who Test For Toxins