Majority of federal scientists say they are not allowed to speak freely to public: report

The first of two reports on the restrictions impacting the ability of federal scientists to publicly discuss their work has been released. It is backed by a survey that found 71% of respondents believe political interference "has compromised Canada's ability to develop policy, law and programs based on scientific evidence".

An even greater percentage (90%) feel they are not allowed to speak freely with the media about their work, while 86% are fearful they will face censure or retaliation for bypassing the rules, even if their work is of importance to the health, safety and security of Canadians. The same percentage "believe the public would be better served if transparency and accountability were increased".

Entitled The Big Chill, the report was prepared by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) which represents federal scientists (www.pipsc.ca). It also commissioned Environics Research Group to conduct the survey upon which the report is based. Environics sent an on-line survey between June 5 and 9/13 to 15,398 PIPSC members and received responses from 4,069 for a 26% response rate, considered accurate plus or minus 1.6%, 19 times out of 20.

"No scientific reasons have been put forth demonstrating the need for a policy that restricts scientists' access to the media and, equally important, no political argument has been made demonstrating that the public interest is poorly served by such direct access." — PIPSC Report

Another report will be issued by the Office of the Information Commissioner once its ongoing investigation is complete.

Up until now, only anecdotal evidence has been available to gauge the overall impact of the tough communications guidelines introduced by the Harper government when it took the reins of power in 2006. But a growing sense of frustration has led to several external groups forming to protest the government's communications policies, including Univ of Ottawa-based Evidence for Democracy (E4D) and Toronto-based Scientists for the Right to Know. The forerunner to E4D — Death of Evidence — mounted a major rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in July 2012 to decry the new policy and the government's decision to defund the Experimental Lakes Area research facility (R$, July 31/12).

"Half of federal scientists (50%) report being aware of actual cases in which the health and safety of Canadians or environmental sustainability has been compromised because of political interference with their scientific work. Nearly half (48%) are aware of actual cases in which their department or agency suppressed information, leading to incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading impressions by the public, regulated industry, the media and/or government officials." — PIPSC Report

Earlier this month, a book — The War on Science: Muzzled Scientists and Willful Blindness by freelance journalist and author Chris Turner — was released. It contends that the government's communications policy has been directed in particular to scientists researching various aspects of climate change and the impact of the oil sands.

The PIPSC report says the so-called muzzling of scientists began in 2007 at Environment Canada (EC) when a new communications policy was implemented requiring scientists to "seek pre-approval from government media relations departments" before engaging in media interviews. It adds that the policy has been replicated in several other departments "with the result that the media no longer have timely, direct access to government scientists, and scientists no longer have unfettered access to report their findings directly to the public".

The Environics poll is part of a larger research project being undertaken to "examine the current state of Canadian federal government science and the challenges faced by federal government scientists". The poll includes questions on specific departments including EC, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Natural Resources Canada. The greatest number of respondents was from EC (670), Health Canada (651), Department of National Defence (427), DFI?(343) and CFIA (335).

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