Not that I would expect something like this to make a difference with Harper’s regime but in Ottawa today a group of scientists, sponsored by the Council of Canadians, are protesting the “death of evidence” in our country.
Harper and his cronies have cut funding to such bloated and frivolous research programs as Environment Canada, the National Research Council of Canada, and the National Round Table on Environment and Economy.
I used to mock people who compared Harper to Bush but as I watched Harper make more and more cuts to programs like those listed above (not to mention the Canadian Council on Learning) I quickly realized that perhaps I was wrong and we did have our own little Bush running things.
Dr. Scott Findlay, associate professor and former director the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Environment, says the “death of Evidence is a cause for national mourning.”
He said in a release there is “systematic campaign to reduce the flow of scientific evidence to Canadians.”
“As a result, the public hears and sees only information that supports federal government policy or ideology. That’s not evidence, that’s propaganda.”
And therein lies the biggest problem – Harper’s penchant for cutting scientific, evidence based programs is about ideology just as Bush’s were. He’s padding the pockets of his friends while cutting every social program he can just as Bush did. Harper may not host Bible study in his office but at this point I think he might as well and make the Bush comparisons entirely too easy for us to even bother with.