{"id":3822,"date":"2015-11-13T10:27:47","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T15:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?p=3822"},"modified":"2015-11-13T10:29:05","modified_gmt":"2015-11-13T15:29:05","slug":"canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

On November 4, 2015, Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party was sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada. Less than 48 hours later, the new administration announced it was ending restrictions on federal scientists\u2019 public communications.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

The previous Conservative government, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, tightly vetted communications from all federal workers, including government scientists. The Economist<\/em> wrote in 2013 that \u201c[f]rom the government\u2019s point of view this approach has worked splendidly, with politicians and officials delivering a uniform message\u201d but \u201cscientists and the union representing them have complained mightily.\u201d[2]<\/a> Nature<\/em> also published an editorial criticizing the Harper government\u2019s stance, noting that \u201cCanadian journalists have documented several instances in which prominent researchers have been prevented from discussing published, peer-reviewed literature. Policy directives and e-mails obtained from the government through freedom of information [requests] reveal a confused and Byzantine approach to the press, prioritizing message control and showing little understanding of the importance of the free flow of scientific knowledge.\u201d[3]<\/a> Maclean\u2019s <\/em>wrote that \u201c[w]ith the muzzling of scientists, Harper\u2019s obsession with controlling the message verges on the Orwellian.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Department of Fisheries and Oceans geneticist Dr. Kristi Miller-Saunders, who had\u00a0previously been hampered<\/a> in communicating about her research on wild salmon, said the policy change was \u201cvery exciting news\u00a0. . . .\u00a0I was terribly embarrassed at having to decline numerous opportunities to speak about my research. What was perhaps even more frustrating was when stories went ahead about research I had published without [the reporter] being able to speak to me personally, and either got some of the important facts wrong or over-interpreted the science, and I was not able to speak out to correct them.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Details of the new policy are still being worked out, but the Liberal\u00a0Party has announced that it \u201cwill appoint a Chief Science Officer who will ensure that government science is fully available to the public, that scientists are able to speak freely about their work, and that scientific analyses are considered when the government makes decisions.\u201d[6]<\/a> It appears there will also be individual departmental requirements for scientists under the new policy: for example, a Department of Fisheries and Oceans director noted that scientists will be asked to make note of the media communication \u201cso we\u00a0know what communication has taken place.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

A similar change also happened in the United States under President Barack Obama; upon taking office in 2009, President Obama ordered all heads of federal agencies to increase public access to federally-funded scientific research and to \u201cmake available as much information as possible.\u201d[8]<\/a> But this is not to say that U.S federal scientists have complete freedom to communicate with the media and public: a 2015 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that while many U.S. agencies “had substantially improved their policies since 2008, significant issues remained.\u201d[9]<\/a> The report particularly criticized a lack of clarity, and found that \u201cmany agencies still do not have written policies that afford their scientists the basic right to speak freely.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

Lauren Kurtz is the Executive Director of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, which seeks to protect the scientific endeavor. \u00a0For more information, please visit www.climatesciencedefensefund.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.sej.org\/publications\/watchdog-tipsheet\/liberals-unmuzzle-canadian-scientists-will-us-scientists-be-next<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/www.economist.com\/blogs\/americasview\/2013\/03\/scientific-freedom-canada<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> https:\/\/www.nature.com\/nature\/journal\/v483\/n7387\/full\/483006a.html<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/news\/canada\/when-science-goes-silent\/<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/british-columbia\/federal-scientists-eager-to-share-their-research-now-that-muzzles-are-off\/article27171269\/<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> https:\/\/www.liberal.ca\/realchange\/science-and-scientists\/<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> https:\/\/www.nationalobserver.com\/2015\/11\/06\/news\/breaking-trudeau-government-unmuzzles-scientists<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> https:\/\/www.economist.com\/blogs\/americasview\/2013\/03\/scientific-freedom-canada<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> https:\/\/www.ucsusa.org\/center-science-and-democracy\/promoting-public-access-science\/grading-government-transparency-2015#.VkT8ULerTcs<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> https:\/\/www.ucsusa.org\/sites\/default\/files\/attach\/2015\/03\/grading-government-transparency-ucs-2015.pdf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On November 4, 2015, Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party was sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada. Less than 48 hours later, the new administration announced it was ending restrictions on federal scientists\u2019 public communications.[1] The previous Conservative government, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, tightly vetted communications from all federal workers, including government scientists. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1475,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5671],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-international","7":"czr-hentry"},"yoast_head":"\nCanadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications - Climate Law Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications - Climate Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On November 4, 2015, Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party was sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada. Less than 48 hours later, the new administration announced it was ending restrictions on federal scientists\u2019 public communications.[1] The previous Conservative government, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, tightly vetted communications from all federal workers, including government scientists. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-13T15:27:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-13T15:29:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lauren Kurtz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sabincenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sabincenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lauren Kurtz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lauren Kurtz\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/person\/24391fadda6350506112790b673e59c1\"},\"headline\":\"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-13T15:27:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-13T15:29:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/\"},\"wordCount\":607,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"International\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/\",\"name\":\"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications - Climate Law Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-13T15:27:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-13T15:29:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Law Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sabin Center for Climate Change Law\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/files\/2023\/02\/21-SabinBlog_Banner-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/files\/2023\/02\/21-SabinBlog_Banner-1.png\",\"width\":2752,\"height\":260,\"caption\":\"Sabin Center for Climate Change Law\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/sabincenter\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/person\/24391fadda6350506112790b673e59c1\",\"name\":\"Lauren Kurtz\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/author\/lkurtz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications - Climate Law Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications - Climate Law Blog","og_description":"On November 4, 2015, Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party was sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada. Less than 48 hours later, the new administration announced it was ending restrictions on federal scientists\u2019 public communications.[1] The previous Conservative government, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, tightly vetted communications from all federal workers, including government scientists. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/","og_site_name":"Climate Law Blog","article_published_time":"2015-11-13T15:27:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-11-13T15:29:05+00:00","author":"Lauren Kurtz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sabincenter","twitter_site":"@sabincenter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lauren Kurtz","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/"},"author":{"name":"Lauren Kurtz","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/person\/24391fadda6350506112790b673e59c1"},"headline":"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications","datePublished":"2015-11-13T15:27:47+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-13T15:29:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/"},"wordCount":607,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization"},"articleSection":["International"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/","name":"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications - Climate Law Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-11-13T15:27:47+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-13T15:29:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2015\/11\/13\/canada-ends-restrictions-on-scientists-public-communications\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Canadian Government Ends Restrictions on Government Scientists\u2019 Public Communications"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/","name":"Climate Law Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization","name":"Sabin Center for Climate Change Law","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/files\/2023\/02\/21-SabinBlog_Banner-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/files\/2023\/02\/21-SabinBlog_Banner-1.png","width":2752,"height":260,"caption":"Sabin Center for Climate Change Law"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/sabincenter"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/person\/24391fadda6350506112790b673e59c1","name":"Lauren Kurtz","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/author\/lkurtz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}