Don’t fuck with science, Steve
And beware your fishy fate!
Dean Jensen
Apparently Stephen Harper has little regard for science. This past week, the Harper government decided to eliminate the position of national science adviser once the present holder of the position, Arthur Carty (appointed in 2004 by then-head cheese Paul Martin) retires in March. Sound scientific advice from a leader in the field — in Carty’s case, with over 27 years’ experience — has been deemed “no longer necessary.”
John Smol, professor of ecology at the University of Toronto and a fellow of the Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Canada, finds the decision “troubling and worrisome. . . . I don’t think enough science is being involved in decision-making and policy-making as it is.” I agree. Last I checked, old Steve was not, in fact, a scientist, but an oil-sucking number-cruncher by trade, before he got his mandibles deep into the public chest.
His government, however, points to its creation of the Science, Technology and Innovation Council when defending their decision to terminate the direct scientific adviser position. The council, comprised of scientists, industry representatives, and university chancellors, does indeed have a mandate to offer policy advice regarding developments in science and technology. But the position of scientific adviser provided a direct link from the scientific community to the prime minister, providing clarity and an unbiased scientific perspective on issues of importance to Canadians, one untouched by private industry’s sticky fingers.
Issues like climate change and biodiversity loss, for example, where the Harper government refuses to accept current scientific findings, choosing instead to alternate between quick (big) bucks and business as usual. While the prime minister’s official website claims his government “will put Canada at the forefront of clean technologies to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” it offers no insight into what is either being done or is planned to be done to actually bring this about.
Now, let me just get this out of the way: I do not trust Stephen Harper. I don’t know many people, if any, who do. While the elimination of a simple position such as science adviser does not, on its own, strike fear into my weary heart, it does leave a fishy taste in my mouth, and not a good fishy taste. More of a sludge-sucking, bottom-feeding fishy flavour, with just a hint of petroleum byproduct left afterwards.
The Harper government had, upon election, previously moved the science adviser’s office from Privy Council Office to Industry Canada’s headquarters, where, instead of reporting directly to the prime minister, reports were filed with the minister in charge of that department. Shortly thereafter, Steve and his crew pulled out of the Kyoto Accord (a cheap dick manoeuvre) and further confounded climate change discussions in Bali, proving himself to once again be an international embarrassment to Canada.
The federal government then went on, in a move I wasn’t even aware of until doing some research into this issue, to slash Environment Canada’s operating budget in September 2007. Programs such as wildlife protection offered by National Wildlife Areas, which previously had received $1.9 million annually, had its funding reduced to zero. That’s right: zero. Further, the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Network, which monitors changes in ecosystems as climate change kicks into high gear, had its operating budget reduced by 80 per cent!
Environment Minister John Baird, replying to an e-mail sent by the CBC regarding the matter, stated that: “The government has been clear that its priorities are being a climate change champion and taking real action to provide clean air and clean water for Canadians.” How, I wonder, does eliminating scientific insight and operating costs to programs designed to bring clear, unbiased information on the effects of climate change and other environmental issues make us a “climate change champion?”
This government does not give a flying fuck about climate change, let alone any of the other environmental issues facing us these days. Not only do they demonstrate a complete lack of regard for the science behind such issues, but they display a complete lack of regard or respect for future generations and governments who will have to deal with the fact that these blood-sucking scum are leaching resource dollars out from under us at an incredibly alarming rate. This continues to occur in spite of mounting scientific evidence that business as usual cannot go on like this. These bastards ought to be put out on a (rapidly depleting) Arctic ice flow and left to fend for themselves in the face of the climate changes they so blatantly have no desire to deal with, where the dollars they’ve made in turning their backs on science will yield them nothing but, perhaps, a sick, sinking of the stomach and a brief, fishy taste of terrible things to come.
Dean Jensen, while not a science student, is a member of a science club!
