Last week, they decided to fight back. With rallies in 17 cities across the country, organizers claimed it was one of the largest pro-science demonstrations in the history of the country.
Scientists usually toil quietly in the bowels of government. Rarely do they raise their heads from their proverbial Bunsen burners to speak out. That reticence makes last week’s “Stand Up for Science” protests even more courageous.
In every department, scientists shape public policy based on evidence, not politics. That doesn’t mean that politicians have to swallow every piece of advice that is tendered. But in a healthy democracy, researchers need to pursue science without fear of how their findings might impact political imperatives.
Sadly, Canada’s historic reputation for unbiased scientific excellence is in tatters.
Last April, complaints about scientific gag orders prompted an ongoing investigation by Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault.
Organized by a new, national science organization called Evidence for Democracy, last week’s initiative includes a ramped-up strategy to document cases of science interference in government.
The organization has been asking members to submit incident reporting forms that evaluate the extent to which government decisions are information by scientific evidence (or not).
Their website suggests:
“Cases could include statutory amendments or legal reform, policy changes, or administrative decisions that:
• Enhance or reduce the role of scientific evidence,
• Enable or impede the flow of scientific information to the public, or
• Are consistent or inconsistent with the best available evidence.”
It has been several years since the Canadian Association of Journalists first gave Stephen Harper its infamous Code of Silence Award. The Conservative government is regularly cited as the most secretive in Canada.
In 2008, then-CAJ president Mary Agnes Welch attributed the award to “Harper’s white-knuckled death grip on public information.…He’s gone beyond merely gagging cabinet ministers and professional civil servants, stalling access to information requests and blackballing reporters who ask tough questions. He has built a pervasive government apparatus whose sole purpose is to strangle the flow of public information.”
In 2012, CAJ president Hugo Rodrigues defended another Code of Silence prime ministerial award. “The death grip on information has long frustrated journalists in this country, but it may now be reaching a point where the public at large is not only empathetic, but shares it,” he said.
The CAJ complained that federal government departments now deal with media almost exclusively by emails that often contain little, if any, of the information requested.
That allegation was reinforced by the ministerial email response to last week’s pro-science rallies.
Without even acknowledging the issues, Minister of State for Science and Technology Greg Rickford had this to say: “our government is committed to science, technology, innovation, and taking ideas to the marketplace. Canada is ranked number one among G7 countries for its higher education expenditures on research and development.”
Absolutely no recognition, not even a mention, of the need for evidence-based science in government. Instead, top priority is accorded to “taking ideas to the marketplace.” That is not the job of science. There are times when science is there to stop governments from taking bad ideas to the marketplace.
Health Canada scientists researched the deadly effects of tobacco long before cigarette companies even acknowledged any problems. Environment Canada scientists have been at the world forefront of research into global warming notwithstanding the outright hostility of the current government to anything resembling an environmental consensus.
Good science is crucial to making good decisions. Not all evidenced-based science evidence is politically popular.
Harper’s solution to this dilemma is to muzzle scientists with the same iron fist he has applied to ministers and the media.
This should come as no surprise. After all, the Prime Minister reappointed Rickford’s predecessor to the science portfolio after Minister Gary Goodyear personally disavowed the theory of evolution in favour of religious-based creationism.
How can scientists “Stand Up for Science” when the minister doesn’t?
Politicians don’t always like to listen. They may have legitimate reasons to spurn scientific recommendations.
If elected officials choose to bypass science, they should be prepared to defend their decisions in public.
Next Saturday, the world celebrates International Right to Know Day.
Sept. 28th was designated in 2002 as the day to celebrate the important role of information in good governance.
Government decisions should be evidence-based. In every department, from environment to agriculture, from health to foreign affairs, unbiased scientific information is critical to policy making.
This year, Canada will have little to celebrate.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: SHEILA COPPS
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