Right To Know: Is government muzzling scientists?

(Some of the articles below coincide with Canada’s national Right To Know freedom of information week. UPDATED October 7, 2011)

In an attempt to provide a chance for members of the current federal government administration to show more transparency and accountability to science communicators and the Canadian public, CSWA board member Tim Lougheed invited several federal MPs to a panel discussion June 7, 2010 at our annual conference.

Among others, James Rajotte, MP Edmonton-Leduc and deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans Claire Dansereau attended and participated in this panel.

A defining moment for science journalism in Canada

During the discussion and Q&A with audience members, including journalists from several major news organizations, Dansereau committed to meeting with science journalists to discuss ways the federal government could more effectively disseminate information to both reporters and the general public.

In late 2010, Dansereau met with current CSWA president Kathryn O’Hara in Ottawa to discuss how this might be accomplished.

The issue so far…

• In June 2010, the Canadian Association of Journalists published an Open Letter to Canadian Journalists. It describes the muzzling of cabinet ministers and civil servants, the “total obliteration” of the Access to Information system, and the effects of this practice. It also offers journalists recommendations: “push back by refusing to accept vague email responses to substantive questions that require an interview with a cabinet minister or a senior civil servant,” “stop running hand-out photos and video clips” and explain “how little information Ottawa has provided for a story”.
• In September 2010, a column by CSWA board member and Canwest News Service reporter Margaret Munro chronicled the frustrations of science journalists across Canada with current roadblocks to accessing government scientists in the Vancouver Sun (editorial on the issue)
• Freelancer Glen Blouin tackled this issue September 25, 2010 in the Montreal Gazette
• On September 29, 2010 a piece by Kathryn O’Hara further outlining these issues was published online in the journal Nature
• Later that day (September 29, 2010), CBC.ca science reporter Emily Chung published a piece referring to the Nature article here
• Check out this campaign related to the issue started on CBC.ca Science undermined by politics: federal union
• A group of scientists have joined forces to speak up for government researchers http://publicscience.ca/
• An April 13, 2011 Canadian Press story shows that scientists at Environment Canada could not be interviewed about their research on toxins at a northern mine site.
• In April 2011, the CSWA sent an open letter to the leaders of Canada’s political parties asking how each would guarantee freer channels of communication between Canadian journalists and government scientists. We posted their responses.
• A July 27, 2011 article by Margaret Munro “Feds silence scientist over Salmon Study“
• 28 July 2011 – The journal Science picks up the story on the Canadian government’s rigid control over its scientists’ contact with the media:
• September/ October 2011 – Muzzling of the Environment Canada ozone scientists
• Oct 2, 2011 – Environment Canada muzzled scientists who were involved in research that finds massive hole in ozone layer above Arctic (Montreal Gazette). The discovery comes as government reduces staff at monitoring network to the outrage of scientists and politicians.
• Oct 3, 2011 – ‎Star Phenix editorial: Free info flow best for public.
• Oct 7, 2011 Bob McDonald for CBCNews: Big Hole in Ozone Layer, Bigger Hole in Government Policy