Most readers have probably heard about the Prime Ministers rejection of Justin Trudeaus advice we explore the root causes of terrorism. Shortly after, when asked about the alleged terrorist plot against a VIA rail train, the PM insisted, now is not the time to commit sociology.
I had no idea anyone could commit sociology, like they could commit shoplifting, money laundering, or homicide. God forbid we start to think sociologically, criminologically, or anything else with the word logically in it. Especially now that the medias postmillennial hobbyhorse, the war on terror, has a new lick of paint.
An editorial last year in the British journal Nature condemned the Tories muzzling of federal scientists, adding, that it is time for the Canadian government to set its scientists free. No such luck. This March, parliamentarians voted on a motion introduced by NDP Science and Technology critic Kennedy Stewart. The two main items read, That, in the opinion of the House, a) public science, basic research, and the free and open exchange of scientific information are essential to evidence-based policy-making; b) federal government scientists must be enabled to discuss openly their findings with their colleagues and the public.
Cheers erupted in the House when the motion was defeated, 157 to 137, with every Conservative MP rejecting the oppositions appeal to publicly funded rational thinking.
Since 2006, the Harper government has made significant cuts to basic research, diverting funds into disciplines supporting the oil sands industry. Canadian academics are leaving for nations that are more science-friendly, as Ottawa struggles to ensure our export-based resource economy doesnt end up as a knowledge worker Nerdistan, God forbid.
Harpers Cheney-like chill with the press gallery is one thing. But now scientists from Natural Resources Canada, the National Research Council, the Department of National Defence, Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have been outfitted with Hannibal Lector-like muzzles. Requests for interviews with Environment Canada scientists are funneled through a media relations team, which may or may not contact a program expert for an acceptable reply. Sensitive subjects involving climate change or nonrenewable resources are redirected to the Privy Council Office for approval. The time-consuming processing of requests through the bureaucratic alimentary tract means journalists are less likely to reach their deadlines on time.
Now, seven years into the Tories gag rule, federal Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault has launched an investigation, even as the feds are widening their cone of silence to include federal librarians and archivists.
Lets not forget the approximately $45 million hacked from arts and culture budgets. Harpers justification in 2007, that ordinary people dont care about the arts, inspired Life of Pi author Yann Martel to mail a novel every two weeks to the prime ministers home at 24 Sussex Dr., in an effort to convince him that the life of the mind has something going for it, even if its not as glorious as pressure-washing bitumen from Albertan sand.
It sounds like the PM has a problem with thinking in general, and its communication in particular. Youll recall it was the public grasp of math that created so much controversy for the feds after their number-fudging on the F-35 fighter jet contract.
The unexamined life is not worth living, Socrates once said. The Harper government seems to be telling its employees that the unexamined life is the best way to avoid the career equivalent of hemlock.
Speaking of thought, my April 19 column in the Courier, Financial elites still want to run the asylum, could have used a bit more of it. In it, I paraphrased British journalist George Monbiot, saying that he described the economic experiment of neoliberalism as a failure of good intentions. He objected to this summary, and after rereading what he wrote, I determined he described it as a failure but not of good intentions. In fact, he added that it was a fraud. I leveraged this misreading into an estimate of the journalist as a guardian for the right, which was hardly warranted by the example I gave. I retract that, and apologize to Monbiot for the lazy editorializing.
One more thing: part two of my column on slavery has been postponed until after the provincial election.
www.geoffolson.com
