Disrespect And Distrust For Science

And when all other federal party leaders unite to salute your heady accomplishment in a committee room a mere seven-iron golf shot from the Prime Minister's Office on Parliament Hill, the government responds with a boycott. Incredibly, the Conservatives declined to participate in an afternoon reception yesterday saluting Canadian scientists who shared last year's Nobel Prize with former U.S. vice-president Al Gore for their role in researching and writing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's massive final report. University of Victoria research chairman Andrew Weaver, one of the winning scientists, declined to attend the reception because of the "deeply disturbing" government no-show. "It's almost like a war on science is going on in government, which is very sad," he told me. "There's a disrespect and distrust for science." More at http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=eb4f79c9-ff66-40d1-9091-3d561623d9dd&k=53574&p=1 Environment Canada scientists told to toe the line Margaret Munro, Canwest News Service Published: Thursday, January 31, 2008 Environment Canada has "muzzled" its scientists, ordering them to refer all media queries to Ottawa where communications officers will help them respond with "approved lines." The new policy, which went into force in recent weeks and sent a chill through the department research divisions, is designed to control the department's media message and ensure there are no "surprises" for Environment Minister John Baird and senior management when they open the newspaper or turn on the television, according to documents obtained by Canwest News Service. Climatologist Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria works closely with several Environment Canada scientists. He says the policy points to the Conservative government's fixation with "micro-management" and message control. "They've been muzzled," says Weaver of the federal researchers. "The concept of free speech is non-existent at Environment Canada. They are manufacturing the message of science." "They can't even now comment on why a storm hit the area without going through head office," says Weaver, whose been fielding calls from frustrated media who can no longer get through to federal experts scientists who once spoke freely about their fields of work, be it atmospheric winds affecting airliners or disease outbreaks at bird colonies. Under the "guiding principles" of the new policy, it says Environment Canada employees and "subject matter" experts "shall discuss only their own job within their personal areas of expertise. They "shall' not," the presentation says, "speculate about events, incidents, issues or future policy decisions." Whether this prohibition covers speculation about the impacts of phenomenon such as climate change, which is reshaping Canadian and global ecosystems, is not clear. From http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=277560

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