The first time I heard about the protocol was from the BBC. A few months ago, they published an article called "Canadian government is 'muzzling its scientists'. The piece explained that back in 2008, soon after Stephen Harper won his second minority, his Conservatives issued a new "protocol" to all scientists working for the federal government — so that's people in departments like Health Canada, Environment Canada, and the Department for Fisheries and Oceans. The protocol says that those scientists are no longer allowed to talk to the media without permission from Harper's public relations officials first. If a scientist wants to discuss their work, Conservative PR people decide whether or not they're allowed to. And if the interview is approved, Conservative PR people decide what the scientists are — and are not — allowed to say.
“Just as we have one department," the protocol claims, "we should have one voice... This should include asking the [scientist] to respond with approved lines.”
Harper has not been shy about enforcing this new rule.
So, for instance: the head of molecular genetics at the Department for Fisheries and Oceans did some research into why salmon populations in Western Canada are going down. She found that it might be because of a cancer-related virus in the water — one that might have gotten there from nearby industrial fisheries. Her findings were published in Science, one of the most reputable peer-reviewed scientific journals in the world. Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell helped to get it started. But when Science sent out a press release about the article and, as usual, supplied the scientist's name as a contact, reporters discovered that she wasn't actually allowed to talk to them about it. Harper's government didn't want her to; her findings didn't fit with the Conservatives' pro-industry stance. So they were enforcing their new rule and refusing to let her discuss her work in public. (Later, when the BBC wanted to talk her about the protocol; the government wouldn't let her talk about that either.) Full story...
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“Just as we have one department," the protocol claims, "we should have one voice... This should include asking the [scientist] to respond with approved lines.”
Harper has not been shy about enforcing this new rule.
So, for instance: the head of molecular genetics at the Department for Fisheries and Oceans did some research into why salmon populations in Western Canada are going down. She found that it might be because of a cancer-related virus in the water — one that might have gotten there from nearby industrial fisheries. Her findings were published in Science, one of the most reputable peer-reviewed scientific journals in the world. Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell helped to get it started. But when Science sent out a press release about the article and, as usual, supplied the scientist's name as a contact, reporters discovered that she wasn't actually allowed to talk to them about it. Harper's government didn't want her to; her findings didn't fit with the Conservatives' pro-industry stance. So they were enforcing their new rule and refusing to let her discuss her work in public. (Later, when the BBC wanted to talk her about the protocol; the government wouldn't let her talk about that either.) Full story...
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- Five Russian scientists who helped Iran with nuclear secrets killed in plane crash....
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