When Canadian Scientists Were Muzzled by Their Government
By WENDY PALENFEB. 14, 2017
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Less than a month into the Trump presidency, and the forecast for science seems ominous.
Scientists at federal agencies have been hit with gag orders preventing them from communicating their findings, or in some cases, attending scientific conferences. […] one agency was asked to identify personnel who worked on climate policies. Now there are proposals for slashing research budgets […] President Trump’s cabinet nominees and senior advisers include many who are climate deniers or doubters.
Canadians experienced a similar assault on science a decade ago under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Just as the American science community is now struggling with whether to speak out and march or stay quiet and do its work, Canadian scientists wrestled with the same questions. Ultimately, Canada’s scientific community came together to save our research, galvanized support to fight back, and captured the attention and concern of the public. I hope our experience — in the spirit of science transcending borders — can be instructive.
Starting in 2007, shortly after Mr. Harper became prime minister, new rules were issued that prevented federal scientists from speaking freely with the media about their research without clearing it with public relations specialists or having an administrative “minder” accompany the scientists on interviews or to scientific conferences. More often, the government would simply deny permission for a scientist to speak with reporters if that person’s findings ran counter to Mr. Harper’s political agenda. Inquiries from journalists became mired in an obstinate bureaucracy, and media coverage of government climate research dropped 80 percent after the rules were imposed.
[…] One of the biggest blows came when research libraries were closed and historical data and reports, many unique and irreplaceable, were literally thrown into dumpsters. This purge of environmental data was justified as a “cost-saving” measure. […]
Reluctant to engage in politics, most scientists kept their heads down and tried to wait it out. It was when Mr. Harper’s government passed a sweeping bill that eliminated or amended our marquee environmental protection laws that we reached our boiling point.
Fearing the continued erosion of even the most basic protections for food inspection, water quality and human health, Canadian scientists filled Ottawa’s streets in the Death of Evidence march. That theatrical mock funeral procession became something of a cultural touchstone. It was a turning point that galvanized public opinion against Prime Minister Harper’s anti-science agenda. By the next election, Justin Trudeau’s center-left government swept in on a platform that put scientists’ right to speak and the promise of evidence-based decisions alongside job creation and economic growth.
So here’s our advice as the Trump administration gears up: spotlight and champion scientists’ refusal to kowtow to intimidation. […] Scientists who usually shy away from political engagement are condemning President Trump for handing the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy and the State Department to a group of men who have denied climate change or questioned the extent to which humans are responsible for global warming. Now scientists from across the country are planning a March for Science in the nation’s capital.
In some quarters, scientists advise their colleagues to remain quiet, keep their noses to the microscope and at most venture out to local meetings so that the “average voter” will know that they’re people, too, and that their work is valuable. But our experience leads to a different conclusion: Come together, speak up and speak out.
Scientists must recognize and fight political censorship, while they remain vigilant for political interference. […]
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/opinion/when-canadian-scientists-were-muzzled-by-their-government.html
