NDP Health Critic says closure of Health Canada Libraries damaging
Posted April 16, 2014 11:32 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The NDP Health Critic is warning there will be consequences to the latest library closure by the Federal Government. This after Health Canada‘s research Library was closed, something Vancouver-East Member of Parliament Libby Davies says could impact your quality of life.
According to Davies, purging health libraries could have an impact on the quality of life for all Canadians with scientific researchers unable to access information vital to their work. “I think it really limits the capacity of the kind of work that can be done in Canada in terms of protecting the public interest. I think in the long term, it’s very damaging.”
Davies says that’s bad news for Canada’s reputation in the international research community, but it could also have an impact on you. “At some point it begins to affect the programs and institutions that we have in Canada that are dedicated to improving the quality of life for Canadians.”
Davies says the savings from library closures are minimal, but she warns other federal research collections could still be on the chopping block. Environmental scientists raised concerns in January only part of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Library was digitized before books and research dating back to the 1800’s were dismantled, some simply thrown out.
