“10,000 barrels of dilbit, a mixture of bitumen and toxic diluent, were spilled in Arkansas last week. Citizens in Toronto and everywhere along Enbridge’s Line 9 have legitimate concerns and tough questions to ask the NEB. Muzzling their opposition is against basic principles of natural justice. These new barriers to free speech would not stand up to judicial review,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands.

In their fight against Omnibus Bill C-38, the Greens tried to prevent the destruction of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA). Green Leader Elizabeth May put forward amendments –rejected by the Conservatives– to protect rights for public participation, which were once fundamental to the CEAA. The terms used in C-38 restrict public participation to those “directly affected”. “It is that terminology that has led to the abuse we witness today, but even with that restrictive language, the NEB has made it even more restrictive by adding its own two-week timeline,” said May.

“Enbridge plans to pump dilbit, with added benzene, a notorious carcinogen, through our neighbourhoods using an aging pipe system originally built for natural gas. What would a spill near Lake Ontario mean for the water supply of millions of people?” asked May.

“After muzzling scientists, Stephen Harper muzzles citizens. Add his obsession for the oil business and his disregard for Parliament in the mix, and you’ve got a great example of Harperland in action,” said May.

The post Enbridge’s Line 9: Needing Permission to Talk About a Pipeline Going Through Your Neighbourhood? Welcome to Harperland. appeared first on Elizabeth May.

I had planned a media availability session at the unfortunate time of Friday afternoon at 4pm, as it was the only time when I wasn’t busy in meetings. By complete fluke, Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, came to Washington, DC the same day and held a joint press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry at 2pm. Thanks to Minister Baird, my press conference was perfectly timed and a ton of media showed up. In the Twitter world, this could all be explained with #synchronicity.

And further to my last column, President Barack Obama did indeed make climate action a significant part of his State of the Union address. While the Globe and Mail described this as a ‘surprise’, readers of Island Tides were likely not surprised.

Though there is much to share about events in Washington, new developments in the repression of Canadian science are more urgent. ‘Chilling’ is the word that has been used in media reports, and ‘chilling’ it is.

Back in October 2011, I wrote in Island Tides about the muzzling of DFO scientists. The scientist in question, Dr Kristi Miller, had achieved levels of scientific respect as her work on viruses linked to salmon aquaculture operations had been published in the internationally prestigious journal Science. When Science attempted to arrange media interviews with Dr Miller, the Privy Council Office ordered her to refuse.

It seems that the public outcry over that event, and others including ozone scientists at Environment Canada, led the Prime Minister’s Office to decide the contractual arrangements with scientists were too lax. As of February 1 this year, new rules were put in place requiring all scientists working on projects in conjunction with DFO in the Central and Arctic Region to treat all information as proprietary to DFO, and—worse—await departmental approval before submitting research to any scientific journals.

The story was broken by veteran journalist Michael Harris, in the online journal iPolitics. Harris has been one of the few journalists willing to dig into the pervasive repression, slashing of science and rejection of evidence based decision-making in Harper’s Ottawa.

The reaction from DFO was swift. It posted this attack on its website:

‘The iPolitics story by Michael Harris published on February 7th, 2013 is untrue. There have been no changes to the Department’s publication policy.’

Harris recounts that he was stunned. He had verified the change with several scientists, external to DFO. He called Dr Jeff Hutchings at Dalhousie University who re-confirmed the changes. Then Harris received support from an unexpected source—an anonymous DFO scientist posted the email from Michelle Wheatley, the Central and Arctic science director, sent out to detail the new publication policy.

The anonymous scientist wrote, ‘Here is the e-mail I got from my division manager on January 29, 2013: ‘Subject: New Publication Review Committee (PRC) Procedures for C&A Science …’. The email was reproduced in full, and began, ‘This message is regarding the new Publication Review Committee procedures for C&A Science…’

The email noted that the new policy was to take effect on February 1, 2013.

The anonymous scientist concluded: ‘You decide who’s being untruthful.’

A few days after DFO tried to deny that there were any changes, the Vancouver Sun broke the story of a US scientist, doing collaborative work with DFO, who is refusing to sign the new conditions. Calling it a ‘potential muzzle,’ Dr Andreas Muenchow, of the University of Delaware told the Sun, ‘I’m not signing it.’ Muenchow has been working on a project with DFO scientists in the Eastern Arctic since 2003.

In 2003, when the collaborative research project began, there were quite different rules about sharing data: ‘Data and any other project-related information shall be freely available to all Parties to this Agreement and may be used, disseminated or published, at any time.’

Within days of February 1st’s new publication policy, on February 7, came another DFO email to scientists: now they must obtain prior consent before applying for research grants.

You can see where this is going. It is not enough to muzzle scientists like Dr Miller when their research is published. The tightening of control over science must be established far earlier in the process. Stop the research from being submitted to journals. Stop the scientists from collaborating with others. Stop scientists from applying for research grants. Stop science from happening at all.

The elimination of whole branches of scientific work within the federal government, the slashing of governmental funds for science, and now a departmental veto on applying for research grants or submitting results to peer reviewed journals fits in the larger systemic dismantling of any aspect of governmental activities that could throw doubt on the wisdom of pressing for rapid expansion of fossil fuel exploitation.

‘Chilling’ is one word, but it does not seem adequate to this development. This is the 21st Century equivalent of the Dark Ages. This is book burning and superstition run rampant. This is the administration of a steady, slow drip of poison to a weakening democracy.

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In addition to the evidence in her column of restricted media access to government scientists and the new requirements that scientists who collaborate with them accept terms that require permission from the Canadian government before sharing their findings, recent Fisheries and Oceans Canada rules moved to shut down scientific research before it starts.

On Feb. 7, in a DFO e-mail to scientists, it was stipulated that they obtain prior consent before applying for research grants. As well, before submitting research to a peer-reviewed journal for publication, scientists must obtain permission from a departmental superior (who, no doubt, needs permission from the Prime Minister’s Office).

Search as I might, I can’t find suppression of science and research and the strangling of the free flow of information in the Conservatives’ 2011 platform. No one voted for this.

Elizabeth May, Leader, Green Party of Canada

(Originally printed in the Globe and Mail)

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A leading Canadian climate scientist today slammed the search for the long-lost 1845 Franklin Expedition as a veiled front for future oil and gas extraction in the high Arctic.

Andrew Weaver, a professor in the University of Victoria school of earth and ocean sciences, called the search for the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror a “joke” during an off-the-cuff speech during a noontime rally in downtown Victoria.

Researchers in white lab jackets, Raffi Cavoukian, a.k.a Raffi the children’s entertainer, Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Elizabeth May and Saanich South MLA Lana Popham, joined Weaver in denouncing cutbacks in environmental research spending, and the fear cultivated among federal scientists about speaking publicly about research that might contradict the Conservative government’s economic goals.

“Why do citizens across this country have to rally for science? We have to rally against ignorance,” May told the crowd. “Canadians are being put at risk by this shortsighted, reckless Stephen Harper government.”

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Once the video was on Youtube, and subsequently discussed on every TV news show, Wilks’ website posted a statement of complete support for C-38.

The rally, amazingly well attended, was a boost to us as we went back into the House. It was the last time I saw daylight until Friday morning. The rally’s placards called for ‘13 heroes.’ If the search for heroes is defined by Conservative MPs voting for C-38 amendments, then there are none in Ottawa. However, that is not the case.

David Wilks was attacked in the media for caving, for failing to challenge the Prime Minister directly, despite his clear integrity and unhappiness with the ‘system.’ His statements, despite capitulation and retraction, constituted a kind of heroism in a system where everyone seems to be afraid of earning the Prime Minister’s wrath.

Currently, Ottawa is in the throes of oppression. Scientists are muzzled, but why don’t they defy bosses and speak out anyway? They are afraid of losing their jobs. Some in industry have told me they avoid public criticism of the Prime Minister because they have children working in the civil service. They are afraid for their children’s jobs. Reporters have been cowed by higher ups in their media corporations telling them to lay off criticizing the PM. They are afraid for their jobs (several reporters have lost their jobs for offending the PMO). Little wonder the members of Harper’s caucus are silent. They know from Helena Guergis’ experience just how painful, and complete, banishment can be.

I want to celebrate people of integrity who lost much by refusing to be silenced. Conservative MPs who stood up to the Prime Minister constitute a short list, and only one is still in the Conservative Caucus.

Former Nova Scotia MP Bill Casey stood on principle and voted against the 2008 budget due to the fact it violated the oil revenue-sharing contract called the Atlantic Accord. He was thrown from caucus. Casey is a man of integrity who paid a big price, but he is not the only one. MP Garth Turner was also thrown from the Conservative Party when he refused to stop blogging on issues that concerned him in 2007.

Sometimes bravery in the Conservative ranks comes from refusing to vote. Albertan James Rajotte, and Ontario MPs Royale Galipeau and Pat Davidson refused to stand with their colleagues to vote that asbestos is safe. Braver to be in the room and refuse to vote, than avoid voting by not being in the House – as a number of Conservatives did.

Speaking out against Harper’s agenda is difficult even for retired MPs. Full marks to the two Progressive Conservative Fisheries Ministers Tom Siddon and John Fraser. They signed the joint letter, with Liberal former ministers Herb Dhaliwal and David Anderson, condemning the gutting of the Fisheries Act in C-38. Former Conservative MP Bob Mills, of Red Deer, was heroic agreeing to speak out to denounce the loss of the National Round Table on Environment and Economy in a press conference I organized against C-38.

The very brave are those who stood on principle to support good public policy only to be fired, forced to quit or have careers stall. The following is a partial list, a brief reminder of people who continue to live without the jobs and careers they deserve.

• The former Deputy Minister of Statistics Canada, Munir Sheikh, who resigned on principle one year ago when his Minister, Tony Clement, claimed that no one in the bureaucracy had warned him that cancelling the Long Form Census would be a huge mistake. He had warned the Minister and he could not live with the lie.
• Linda Keen, former head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, fired for insisting on nuclear safety upgrades at Chalk River.
• Richard Colvin, the diplomat who testified to the violations of international law in the transfer of Afghan detainees. He was berated as a Taliban stooge by the Conservatives.
• Kevin Page, Parliamentary Budget Officer, who has found that merely doing his job–providing fiscal updates to Parliamentarians–has earned the PM’s wrath. He announced that he will not stay on beyond his first term.

Meanwhile, he has warned the Prime Minister that he will go to court to force release of budgetary information he believes Parliamentarians need, unless it is released before the House resumes

The Search Goes On

So many people in Saanich-Gulf Islands, and on the Coast in general, are active and engaged. With what remains of the summer, can you contact a friend or relative living in a Conservative-held riding?

Stephen Harper is planning a second omnibus bill to implement Budget 2012 for the fall. We need to urge Conservative Members of Parliament to push back and refuse to support a repeat version of C-38. We need more heroes.

The post The Search for Heroes appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Canada has seen steady progress in environmental legislation and protections  — until this year.

This Earth Week was marked by announcements from the Harper Conservatives —  undermining environmental assessment and attacking environmental groups as “radicals.”

“This year on Earth Day, we need citizens to speak up and speak loudly to demand a healthy environment. Our government should not be ignoring the values of Canadians in favour of the oil patch,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands.

The attacks keep coming:

• Slashing the budgets of government departments in charge of environmental regulations;
• Turning environmental assessments into rubber stamps;
• Giving Revenue Canada $8-million to specifically target environmental charities;
• Pressuring funders to stop supporting Canadian environmental charities;
• Crafting a budget that supports supertankers, pipelines and fossil fuels, but does nothing to address the threat of climate change;
• Eliminating the National Round Table on Environment and Economy;
• Continually muzzling Canada’s scientists;
• Cutting funding to scientific research stations, including Canadian Food Inspection Agency research centres and PEARL, a world-renowned atmospheric research centre;
• Planning to gut the Fisheries Act by removing provisions for habitat protection;
• Closing the emergency response stations under Environment Canada to respond to oil or chemical emergencies, and leaving only one office in Quebec.

“We have never seen an assault on nature of this scale and determination in Canada’s history.  As communities across the country come together to celebrate Earth Day and to take steps to reduce their ecological footprint, we need to speak up and expand our political footprint.  Let 2012 be the year we return to Canadian values — protect the planet for our children’s future, stay in Kyoto and invest in the green energy revolution that creates tens of thousands of jobs,”  said May.

The post Earth Day more important than ever appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May said the Conservatives had followed through on threats to erode environmental protection by killing the voice of its sustainable development advisory council, the National Round Table on Environment and Economy, and threats to sanction environmental groups if they engaged in advocacy.

“First, it gagged the scientists, now it is killing the advisory insititue the NRTEE, and has sent a warning shot to silence on-government conservation groups. Without measurements, science or critics who can speak without fear, Harper’s agenda heads towards steam-rolling massive fossil fuel expansion,” she said in a press release.

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I accept that the minister would never knowingly mislead this House but his answers do not accord with the facts.

I have an email here to a responsible journalist with Postmedia in which it states that “an interview cannot be granted” with the scientist in question.

I would urge the parliamentary secretary not to tell us that the minister speaks for all scientists. The reality is that, if the minister is not muzzling these scientists, and I accept that he is not, will he investigate who in the Government of Canada is muzzling these scientists?

Michelle Rempel: Mr. Speaker, I know the minister has addressed this issue on numerous occasions.

However, before I answer the question, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague at Finance on Canada’s new job numbers. The global recovery remains fragile but this government is working hard right now to get Parliament to implement the next phase of our action plan.

I encourage my colleague across the aisle to vote in support of our budget measures, which include funding for climate change adaptation. And, ministers do speak for the government.

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“As a nation, we should be terribly concerned about crashing salmon populations and we should have access to the research of our own government scientists that can help us to fix this problem,” said Green Fisheries Critic Janice Harvey.  “The entire convoluted process that government scientists have to jump through to access media is completely ridiculous.”

Kristi Miller leads a salmon genetics project at the federal Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.  She has been researching possible genetic factors associated with increased death rates of sockeye salmon.  After her research started to gain worldwide attention, the Privy Council Office ordered her not to speak publicly and prevented any interviews by journalists.

“Muzzling Kristi Miller is unfortunately part of a larger pattern of the Harper government silencing scientists from all departments, preventing any information from reaching the public.  Any information that does emerge is carefully screened and scripted by political communications officers in Ottawa,” said May.

Elizabeth May has pledged her support to the Canadian Science Writers’ Association who are working to end the muzzling of Canadian government scientists.

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