Internal government documents and the recent letter from the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans indicate that one-third of the collections (200,000 items) have been ‘‘culled’’ or recycled
in a ‘‘green’’ fashion (Shea, 2014a), including many duplicates and some materials on subjects considered outside the new departmental mandate, e.g., toxic chemicals, environmental chemistry and toxicology, and aquatic habitat management. Noting that a new government might one day restore these responsibilities, this information would be gone or be widely distributed, limiting access.