Read this story from the Globe and Mail on a recent editorial by prestigious scientific journal Nature’s open criticism of the Harper Government’s muzzling of science. (March 1, 2012)
One of the world’s leading scientific journals has criticized the federal government for policies that limit its scientists from speaking publicly about their research.
The journal, Nature, says in an editorial in this week’s issue that it is time for the Canadian government to set its scientists free.
It notes that Canada and the United States have undergone role reversals in the past six years, with the U.S. adopting more open practices since the end of George W. Bush’s presidency while Canada has been going in the opposite direction.
The editorial says that since taking power in 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has tightened the media protocols applied to federal government scientists and employees.
Nature says policy directives on government communications that have been released through access to information requests have revealed the Harper government has little understanding of the importance of the free flow of scientific knowledge.
The journal says its own news reporters have experienced firsthand the obstacles the Canadian government puts in the way of people trying to gain access to science generated by government scientists on the public payroll.
“The Harper government’s poor record on openness has been raised by this publication before … and Nature’s news reporters, who have an obvious interest in access to scientific information and expert opinion, have experienced directly the cumbersome approval process that stalls or prevents meaningful contact with Canada’s publicly funded scientists,” the editorial says.