Harper Government Muzzling Environment Canada Scientists

onJan 31, 2008 @ 21:36 PST

A Canwest New Service story just hit the wire reporting that all Environment Canada scientists now must refer all media queries to Ottawa where communications officers will help them respond with “approved lines.”

According to documents obtained by Canwest, this new policy is in place to “ensure there are no “surprises” for Environment Minister John Baird and senior management when they open the newspaper or turn on the television.”

We can only speculate, but this might relate back to a year or so ago, when Prime Minister Harper opened his morning paper to discover the shocking revelation that global warming is a serious problem.

UVIC climate scientist, Andrew Weaver, is quoted as saying:

They’ve been muzzled. The concept of free speech is non-existent at Environment Canada. They are manufacturing the message of science.” It looks like Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has ripped another page out of George W. Bush’s war on science play book.

Just 2 days ago, top NASA scientist, Dr. James Hansen revealed a very similar situation in the United States. Hansen claims that not only has he been severely censored by political appointees over the years, but that the White House Office of Management and Budget reviews all scientific testimony to make sure that it’s “consistent with the President’s budget.”

As they say… like father, like son. Or in this case, like President, like Prime Minister.

By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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