There is trouble in the realms of science and knowledge in Canada. Canada is witnessing a systematic and wilful attack on its scientific community and heritage institutions.
Factual information that is not useful to support government policy and economic growth is ignored. This obsessive political focus on economics ignores the environmental peril, with consequences our grandchildren will inherit.
March of the Lab Coats
The March of the Lab Coats is the title of the first chapter of Chris Turner’s book, "The War on Science: Muzzled Scientists and Wilful Blindness in Stephen Harper’s Canada." It documents the ‘Death of Evidence’ march – a mass of white lab coats marching on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in May of 2012. This action taken by scientists marked the first time this ordinarily demure, reasonable, reserved and cautious group felt compelled to hit the pavement to protest the unprecedented actions of the Federal Government.
Turner speaks of the traditional “sort of implicit understanding between scientists and politicians” that facts and science are the foundation of sound policy-making. Under Harper, there is an erosion of this “pact between evidence and policy…an evidence-based social contract.” In reference to scientists in Ottawa, Turner writes:
"they place the highest virtue on reasoned argument and cloistered study, proceeding from the core belief that scientific evidence, objectively gathered and impartially analyzed, must always trump opinion and argument
Bill C-38: a War on Knowledge and the Environment
Bill C-38 which was passed in June of 2012 was seen as an assault on environmental legislation and regulations, as well as climate change.
Many saw the changes to the environmental review process as an attempt to expedite the rapid approval of mega-energy projects involving the Oil Sands and the pipelines to carry the bitumen to market.
On another front, by amending the Coastal Trade Act, the Federal Government was able to open over 900 thousand hectares of Arctic waters for drilling. The list of cuts to federal programs and research facilities is astounding.
The Real Game
The war on knowledge is driven by Stephen Harper’s vision of flat-out resource exploitation, regardless of the far-reaching environmental degradation. Science and knowledge that support that vision do well but facts that are a nuisance to politicians do not do as well.
Dr. Peter Ross is a Canadian marine mammal toxicologist. He worries that:
"What we have done in Canada is turn off the radar. We are flying along in an airplane, and we've put curtains over the windshield of those pilots, of that flight-crew, and we've turned off the instruments. We don’t know what is coming tomorrow, let alone next year in terms of some of these potentially catastrophic incidents in our oceans."
Dr. Tom Duck (professor of Atmospheric Science at Dalhousie University) told Linden MacIntyre of the Fifth Estate:
"We know that climate change is an enormous problem. It is the problem for the next century, so if you want to get out your oil, you have to get it out now, if you want to get it out now, you make sure the scientists aren't causing any problems. If you want to make sure the scientists aren't causing any problems, you take away all their funding."
The next Canadian federal election is scheduled for October 19, 2015 – some 600 days away. Will the Canadian electorate put an end to the Stephen Harper anti-science agenda by defeating the Conservatives at the polls? Will the electorate elect a new government that will repair the deliberate dismantling of science and knowledge institutions undertaken by Stephen Harper?
In the meantime, the Harper agenda continues to unfold:
Do no Science, Hear no Science, Speak no Science.
You can read the entire article at BoomerWarrior.Org: http://bit.ly/KxSF6U
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