Harper’s capital-centred federal budget

– Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) –

THE Harper Conservative government delivered the federal budget for the country on February 11. The most important thing for the people to do when assessing the budget is to carve away the dogma and hype. The dogma of “balance” coupled with the hype that the budget provides an opportunity for Harper to regain some momentum for re-election conceal a deeply disturbing trend towards war and nation-wrecking.

The association of the word balance with a federal budget is meant to hide the anti-social offensive and nation-wrecking. The mass media and most of the intelligentsia bring shame on themselves for participating in the dogma of balance. The trite and some say silly talk of balance is a diversion from exposing Harper’s messianic crusade to destroy Canada’s social fabric while annexing the country into the United States of North American Monopolies and U.S. war machine.

The politics of muzzling government scientists

Four thousand Canadian scientists respond to survey. Hundreds confirmed they’d been asked to “exclude or alter technical information in government documents for non-scientific reasons.”

PressProgress (Oct. 22) – IT ISN’T EASY being a scientist for the federal government these days. That’s the clear message from new research released by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC).

The union commissioned Environics “gauge the scale and impact of ‘muzzling’ and political interference among federal scientists.” Over 15,000 were invited to participate in the survey, and about 4,000 took up the offer. The results, released Monday, are startling.

Harper’s anti-science offensive

Scientists rally on Parliament Hill, September 16, 2013.

By DOUGAL MACDONALD

TML Daily (Oct. 15) – IT IS noteworthy that on the Conservative Party of Canada’s Convention Website, the list of resolutions the Harperites will discuss October 31-November 2 in Calgary makes no specific mention of anything directly related to science and scientific research. This is surprising in view of the fact that the Harper dictatorship’s muzzling of science and of scientists’ right to speak about their work is a major issue at this time. On September 16, scientists, researchers, and their supporters held rallies in at least 17 cities across Canada, including in Alberta, to defend the important scientific work they do in the service of the public. The largest rally took place on Parliament Hill where over 1,000 people, including hundreds of scientists in white lab coats, demanded “evidence-based decision-making.”

Events: Country-wide rallies Stand Up for Science

The Harper Government’s anti-social agenda has a political aim; depriving Canadians of scientific information by preventing scientists and others from giving their views in interviews, articles and other forms, which violates the right of the public to getting factual and scientific information in a timely manner, and marginalizes Canadians from participating in more fully debating and discussing issues that concern them. Today, thousands of scientists and citizens are again demanding the federal government prioritize science in the public interest.

Evidence for Democracy (September 16) – TODAY, thousands of scientists and concerned citizens participated in rallies across Canada, voicing their concern for the state of science in the public interest. Speakers highlighted that the health of public science impacts all of us and called on the federal government to make transparent, evidence-based decisions for the health and prosperity of all Canadians.

Muzzling of scientists: Open Letter to Prime Minister Harper

THE FOLLOWING LETTER was jointly issued by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada and several associations of scientists, science writers and journalists to coincide with the panel entitled “Unmuzzling Government Scientists: How to Re-Open the Discourse” at the American Association of Advancement of Science’s 2012 meeting in Vancouver, BC.