Since 2007, there has been an unprecedented shift in the way our
government deals with public science. Government scientists are
no longer able to freely communicate their research with the
media and the public1. New policies have the potential to
suppress science further by making it harder for government
scientists to publish their work and collaborate with scientists
outside of government. Informed public debate is the foundation
of democracy. Informed means, at the very least, having the
scientific information that we have paid for through our tax
dollars available for discussion. This means allowing our
publicly-funded scientists - whose salaries and research costs
we pay - to communicate freely. The federal government’s
position is that no censorship or restriction is occurring. They
insist that this is just standard communication management2.
Gary Goodyear, Minister of Science and Technology, has stated
that the “government provides significant access to federal
scientists.”3 Government spokespeople ha