Politics, Nature and the Censoring of Science in Canada

Water lilies in Cyprus Lake, Ontario, June 2013

Science: The systematic study of the nature and behaviour of the material and physical universe, based on observation, experiment, and measurement, and the formulation of laws to describe these facts in general terms. — Collins English Dictionary

I never go through a day without thinking, at some point, about the destruction of nature in the world and the efforts to halt that destruction and restore natural areas.  You’ll likely have heard that the Canadian Conservative Party, who are in power now, sees oil extraction and pipeline building as priorities for the country’s prosperity.  At the same time, they have fired publically employed environmental scientists, cancelled whole projects and prohibited public scientists from speaking about their findings without first being vetted so that they are “on message.”

At Athabasca Falls, Alberta, Canada, Sept. 2012

Recently the government has closed a series of science libraries connected with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. They say this is to consolidate information, digitize it and save money.  Apparently, however, a government email has surfaced that speaks of culling the information and lists the savings as around $440,000.  This may be a lot of money for most of us, but it is quite a low saving for a federal budget.  In the last few weeks, researchers have discovered that materials from the closed libraries, some with records dating back a century, are being destroyed.  A photograph showing books and papers in a dumpster has appeared online.  I find this deeply troubling. 

Newfoundland, ocean view from the Skerwink Trail, August 2013

My own belief is that these destructive actions toward environmental scientists and scientific information speak to the Conservatives’ desire to withhold knowledge (inconvenient truths) of our eco systems from citizens.  Not only can destroying knowledge have destructive consequences for our health and wellbeing in Canada and beyond, but it is deeply undemocratic.

I’m writing about this today to do my small part in spreading the word and to say there can be no justification, financial or otherwise, for destroying knowledge or for censoring the messengers. I’ve added a few links if you’re interested in reading further.  Plus some photos of the beauty of nature in Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fisheries-and-oceans-library-closings-called-loss-to-science-1.2486171

http://thetyee.ca/News/2014/01/09/Harper-Science-Library-Closure/