Trudeau unmuzzles scientists.

[I Think]

It is being reported that Trudeau has informed scientists that they are free to speak about their work.

[oneh2obabe]

The muzzles are coming off for federal scientists.

For years, scientists who worked for the federal government were silenced by strict rules that made them seek departmental approval before speaking to the press. On Friday, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains said that scientists are free to speak to the media about their work.

“Our government values science and will treat scientists with respect. That is why government scientists and experts will be able to speak freely about their work to the media and the public,” he said in a statement provided by his staff.

“We are working to make government science fully available to the public and will ensure that scientific analyses are considered in decision making.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015 ... ceans.html

[I Think]

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 6, 2015) - The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, made the following statement today:
"Our government values science and will treat scientists with respect.
"That is why government scientists and experts will be able to speak freely about their work to the media and the public.
"We are working to make government science fully available to the public and will ensure that scientific analyses are considered in decision making.
"Canadians expect us to fulfill our commitments, including a more transparent and open government, and I am confident that we will accomplish great things for all Canadians."
====================================================================================
At last the reigns of the dictator are being cast aside, we are becoming a free country once again on a day by day basis.

[maple leaf]

Glad to see this reversal from Harpers thumb on information lifted off.

A federal edict that prevented government scientists from talking publicly about their work turned them into "second-class citizens", a B.C. based molecular geneticist told CBC news Friday.

Scientists, ministers get green light to speak under Trudeau
Are Canada's federal scientists being 'muzzled'?
Kristi Miller, a scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, told CBC News Friday that she was excited at news the newly elected federal government had lifted the muzzle from its researchers.

Kristi-miller-220-
Kristi Miller was prevented from talking to media about the results of her study. (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

"We [are now] free to speak to the press without contacting media relations," she said. "And in fact we are encouraged to get back to them quickly."

It's a far cry from 2011, when Miller was shocked to find herself prevented from discussing her research into the 2009 Fraser River sockeye salmon collapse following its publication in Science magazine.

"I was told at the time that the problem with the study was that it was talking about dying salmon, and that wasn't a positive news story," Miller said.

She eventually discovered that the decision to stop her talking came from the top — directly from the prime minister's office. She was only allowed to talk publicly about her work in response to questions while testifying at the Cohen Commission Inquiry.

"That whole decision really backfired on the government, and I was really surprised they never reversed it. I think that my paper, for good or for bad, got more press because I wasn't allowed to speak. I don't believe I have ever been interviewed about that paper."

She says the oppressive regime led to many scientists quitting.

"I think that there has been a general exodus — and I was one of the people who thought about leaving."

The news that they are now able to speak freely about their work has, Miller says, lifted the spirits of everyone at Fisheries and Oceans..

"When we were banned, it almost made government scientists second-class citizens in the scientific arena," she said. "It was quite embarrassing. I really felt like a second-class citizen."

With files from Greg Rasmussen


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3308549

[averagejoe]

What do they want covered up?

Liberals Unmuzzle Canadian Scientists, Promise They Can Now 'Speak Freely'

In 2014, The Canadian Press exchanged 110 emails with 16 different government officials, trying to land an interview with a Canadian scientist about rock snot.

They were unsuccessful.

The Liberals have said things will be different, and it seems they're making good on that promise.

The change comes after years of criticism that Stephen Harper and the former governing Conservatives "muzzled" scientists, barring them from speaking to the media.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/11/06 ... mg00000005

[Atomoa]

It's not just the scientists.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.3307679

After almost a decade of decreasing access to government ministers and those who work for their departments, it's a remarkable thing for journalists to contemplate once again getting comments from people who make important decisions.

I covered the national health beat for almost 14 years. In the last six or eight years of that assignment, I was never able to interview the federal minister of health. The only time the minister or a government health spokesperson appeared in my stories was following a staged media or public event with prepared statements.

Requests for comments or interviews were invariably rebuffed, and often not until days or sometimes weeks after my deadline had passed.

This is not just whining from the media. It's difficult to tell you — our audiences — how your tax dollars are being spent, or report on the policies or priorities of your elected representatives, if they won't talk to you. The news media stand in for citizens with the privilege and responsibility of asking questions and demanding accountability.

It seems that job is about to get a whole lot easier, which means you should be getting more information about what your government is up to.

[maryjane48]

Unmuzzled federal biologist Facebook post goes viral
http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/unmuzzl ... -1.3309303
Shared via the CBC News Android App

[Omnitheo]

Where are truck guy, Donald GB or the Ted Cruz guy to give their input on this?

[maryjane48]

trying to sell oil stocks

[Glacier]

This is great news, but when will these scientists be spilling the beans on the information they had to keep secret?

[maryjane48]

who , knows , but the important thing is if they have something to report going forward they can

[Partmanpartfish]

Interesting piece in the Globe today about just how weird and paranoid the Harper fascists were when it came to science.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... e27171269/

[Always Sunny]

http://www.thebeaverton.com/national/it ... re-seaweed

Just don't talk to him about your asthmatic mice.

[puterbrother]

Seems curious to me that,in this day and age of social media and technology,these so called "muzzled scientists" couldn't have found a way to get their message out,if it was all that important.
Information gathered by CBC ? Didn't Trudeau offer them a 130 million dollar bonus if he won the election ?

[Atomoa]

Seems curious to me that,in this day and age of social media and technology,these so called "muzzled scientists" couldn't have found a way to get their message out,if it was all that important.

The scientists were bound by contract not to talk to the media or talk at all. Especially Twitter, Facebook and such formats. Strict enforcement.

They could, but they would be fired.

Not "so called".