'Federal scientists are facing a climate of fear'

Thursday, December 5, 2013

So says the president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada in the wake of a survey showing that more than 70 per cent believe political interference has compromised Canada's ability to develop policy, law and programs based on scientific evidence

by PHIL CHADWICK

Climate change isn't constrained to just the globe. A change in the professional atmosphere of Canadian scientists has been labelled as "The Big Chill." Henry Hengeveld,  retired science adviser on climate change for Environment Canada and well known to the readers of this magazine,  has said that he felt "muzzled." (See "Farewell to a (muzzled) climate scientist" – Better Farming, Aug./Sept. 2013).  A new survey suggests that he was far from being alone.

The survey results detailed in the new report, entitled "The Big Chill," gauge the scale and impact of "muzzling" and political interference among federal scientists in recent years. The Harper government enacted policies requiring scientists to seek prior approval before being interviewed by journalists. Information commissioner Suzanne Legault is conducting her own investigation. These new policies have been widely criticized for silencing scientists, suppressing information critical or contradictory of government policy, and delaying timely, vital information to the media and public.

The survey of federal government scientists was commissioned by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). The survey found that 90 per cent feel they are not allowed to speak freely to the media about the work they do and that, faced with a departmental decision that could harm public health, safety or the environment, 86 per cent would face retaliation for doing so.

Environics Research hosted the on-line survey sent to 15,398 PIPSC members – scientists, researchers and engineers – engaged in scientific work in over 40 federal departments and agencies. Of these, 4,069 (26 per cent) responded between June 5 and 19, 2013. The survey is considered accurate to plus or minus 1.6 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Nearly one-quarter (24 per cent) of respondents had been told to exclude or alter information for non-scientific reasons. More than one-third (37 per cent) had been stopped from responding to questions from the public and media in the past five years.

In addition, the survey found that nearly three out of every four federal scientists (74 per cent) believe the sharing of scientific findings has become too restricted in the past five years. Almost the same number – 71 per cent – believe political interference has compromised Canada's ability to develop policy, law and programs based on scientific evidence. According to the survey, nearly half (48 per cent) are aware of actual cases in which their department or agency suppressed information, leading to incomplete, inaccurate or misleading impressions by the public, industry and/or other government officials.

The advancements and inventions created by Canadians have shaped the world and its peoples. (See sidebar.) Sir Sandford Fleming's "UTC" (Co-ordinated Universal Time) creation allows meteorologists to make simultaneous observations and forecasts around the globe. The phone and radio technology of Bell and others enabled this information to be communicated and shared. The computer languages, including Java, are used in simulations of the atmosphere and climate systems. Meteorology and climatology would not have prospered without these and other Canadian inventions. What has changed? Why are there fewer famous Canadian inventions now?

Reports of record weather in the Canadian Arctic do not get the same treatment as records in the south. When did you last hear of a record high in Iqaluit? Acknowledgement of a problem is the first step in finding a solution. The ostrich approach of not reporting record high temperatures or record low ice amounts in the Canadian Arctic won't make them go away.

"Federal scientists are facing a climate of fear," says PIPSC president Gary Corbett, "a chill brought on by government policies that serve no one's interests, least of all those of the Canadian public. The safety of our food, air, water, of hundreds of consumer and industrial products, and our environment depends on the ability of federal scientists to provide complete, unbiased, timely and accurate information to Canadians. Current policies must change to ensure these objectives are met."

Sometimes the best policies to effect real change and improvements do not yield fruit within the four-year political horizon. These policies are a tough sell if your main goal is to be re-elected to power. Farmers in touch with the land, the weather and the climate know what is at stake.

Knowledge and information are better than ignorance and are the foundations for innovation that just may make the environment and the world a better place for our children. Canadians can accomplish this if we just let them. My hat is off to Henry and the other scientists who try to make the world a better place.

On a positive note, what we need is another source of energy other than fossil fuels . . . a modern industrial and energy revolution. BF

Phil-the-forecaster Chadwick has been a professional meteorologist since 1977, specializing in training, severe weather and remote satellite and radar sensing.

Scientists and inventors who blazed trails for Canada
Canadian inventors and scientists once led the world with their innovations. Here are just a few.

Abraham Gesner (1797-1864), physician and geologist, was the primary
     founder of the modern petroleum industry.
Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), "the father of the deaf," was the
     inventor of the telephone, twisted pair wiring and countless other
     innovations.
Alfred Scard invented the snowblower in 1925.
Charles Best and Frederick Banting isolated insulin in 1922.
Cluny MacPherson (1879-1966) invented the gas mask.
Gideon Sundback (1880-1954) invented the modern zipper.
Henry Woodward and Matthew Evens developed the incandescent lamp in
     1874, five years before Thomas Edison's U.S. patent on the device.
Hugh Le Caine (1914-1977), physicist, composer and instrument builder,
     created the first music synthesizers, along with over 22 different new
     instruments.
James Gosling (1955-) was the developer of the Java programming
     language.
James Naismith (1861–1939) invented the sport of basketball.
Joseph Armand Bombardier (1907-1964) invented the first snowmobile
     in 1937.
Lewis Urry (1927-2004) invented both the alkaline battery and lithium
     battery.
Peter Robertson (1879-1951) invented the square-drive screw.
Rasmus Lerdorf (1968- ) was the author of the first version of the PHP web
     programming language.
Reginald Fessenden (1866–1932) was famous for his early work with radio.
Sam Jacks (1915-1975) invented the sports of ringette and floor hockey.
Sandford Fleming (1827–1915) was a prolific engineer and inventor of
     Universal Standard Time, along with Canada's first postage stamp.
Thomas Ahearn (1855-1938) invented the electric cooking range in 1882.
Thomas Ryan developed five-pin bowling in Toronto in 1909.
Wilbur Franks invented the first G-suit for pilots as well as astronauts.