Tell me if you've heard this Government Gag...

I'm not usually here to talk politics, but when it infringes on the right to information, the suppression of science for the benefit of a party's ideological views, I make an exception.

We learned yesterday, via the Vancouver Sun and Slashdot, that the Canadian Government was "muzzling" its scientists, so that no "politically sensitive findings" could be sent out to the media without approval. This resulted in some red tape nightmares, of course, and has the article goes on, we clearly see that it may be their (the Government's) gateway to control any findings made by taxpayer-funded researchers*.

The funny thing is in all this, and by funny I really mean, patheti-sad, is that this is not the first time the Conservative government pulls this kind of hoodwink on Canadians. Indeed, back in 08, we found out, via the media, that they were establishing new "government approved lines" for Environment Canada's scientists!

Do any of you remember that? Not me, or at least not clearly, and that's what scary in all this: The current Government has been slowly bending and circumventing laws and regulations to infringe on our liberties and rights, only so they can have a tighter message, closer to their ideals. May it be via these scientific gags or prorogation of parliament anytime things are not going their way, the current Government seem to bask in a "get out of jail free card" that allows them to scrub out any media "faux pas" so that we forget so easily, what happened, last year, last month or last week.

In closing, I am aware that no body of Government is perfect and that there will always be influences on our leaders, and law makers but they should be above most of these influences. They are paid to do so, they are elected to do so. Not to masquerade decisions as political when they are really ideological. Not to take the voice of research&reason, shape it into a "party line" and send it back, polished and spun so no feathers are ruffled, no lobbyist insulted, no one enlightened by findings and discoveries that might challenge preconceived notions.

We certainly wouldn't want that now would we?

*this would be as severe a matter if the scientist were not tax-payer funded.Just sayin'