Slashdot Mirror
Canadian Government Muzzling Scientists
IllogicalStudent writes with this excerpt from The Vancouver Sun:
"The Harper government has tightened the muzzle on federal scientists, going so far as to control when and what they can say about floods at the end of the last ice age. Natural Resources Canada scientists were told this spring they need 'pre-approval' from Minister Christian Paradis' office to speak with journalists. Their 'media lines' also need ministerial approval, say documents obtained by Postmedia News through access-to-information legislation. The documents say the 'new' rules went into force in March and reveal how they apply not only to contentious issues, including the oilsands, but benign subjects such as floods that occurred 13,000 years ago. They also give a glimpse of how Canadians are being cut off from scientists whose work is financed by taxpayers, critics say, and is often of significant public interest — be it about fish stocks, genetically modified crops or mercury pollution in the Athabasca River."
Since you mention the long form census controversy, I've talked with some old timers from StatsCan, and they all confirm that the long form census has been on the chopping block for a long time. Even Mr. Sheikh has been on record as noting the information collected by the long form is largely useless and irrelevant, serving only to feed endless studies that provide perpetual employment for a select few in StatsCan.
Essentially, the whole "long form census" scandal is nothing more than some entitled statisticians culture in StatsCan upset that their gravy train has been overturned. Eliminating the compulsory long form has no effect on the accuracy of census data in Canada, any outrage over this is just fodder for media attention and slandering the government.