A group of professors and graduate students from the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa is calling on Canadians to participate in a rally in Ottawa mourning the "death of evidence."
The July 10 ralliers will protest what they see as a governmental campaign against science through various program cuts. The rally is designed as a funeral procession with "evidence" as the deceased. Participants are instructed to wear either a lab coat or black clothing, and walk from the Ottawa Conference Centre to Parliament Hall.
Katie Gibbs, a Ph.D. student in the biology department, will be directing the service. She was at the casual meeting with others in her department when the group came up with the idea to hold a funeral for evidence.
According to Gibbs, the group "felt like we had had enough and that somebody needed to speak out" against the cuts to scientific programs.
"We want to let Canadians know that these aren't just part of regular budget cuts. We think that what's happening here is a systematic campaign to reduce the flow of scientific information to Canadians."
The group was spurred by cuts to programs included in omnibus budget bill C-38, but Gibbs emphasized that this would not be a protest against a specific piece of legislation.
"We think it's sort of a more broad problem -- even thinking back to the cutting of the long-form census," Gibbs said. "It's really the same issue of the death of evidence. So we wanted to really keep it under a broad umbrella and welcome all people who were upset at all kinds of evidence cuts."
The protest will respond to closing various facilities such as The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), "dozens" of instances of censorship of government scientists, and budget reductions to research programs at Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the National Research Council Canada, Statistics Canada, among others, according to the event website.
Gibbs said the cutting of the National Round Table on Environment and Economy (NRTEE), which was part of Bill C-38, shows evidence of what she calls a larger "attack on science" by the government.
"That group gave advice that they didn't like, so they're just going to cut them altogether," Gibbs said.
The group is hoping to "connect the dots" between the financial cuts, changes in legislation, and the "muzzling" of government scientists, according to Gibbs.
At least 500 people have promised to attend the event, which starts at noon on July 10. The group is hoping to have closer to 1,000 people in attendance.
Hanah Redman is completing a practicum at The Tyee.
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Fiat lux
45 weeks ago
Very good and step in the
Very good and step in the right direction, but when will the learned people in our universities dare to come out and declare openly that the presently forced on practices of neoclassical monetary economics are the main reasons for the general colonization, enslavement and destruction of the world ?
There's no point in crying over the death of one shred of evidence, while ignoring the origins and causes for the whole dictatorial crime wave, originating in the same universities, destroying democracy and humanity.
Ed Deak.
Hakuin
45 weeks ago
"Upset by accusations in the press
that the government was systematically neglecting science for political gains, the Harperland (tm) commissar for Truth today announced the endowment of the Lysenko Chair a new academic position to be created at all universities."
Okanagan Orchardist
45 weeks ago
Far too general an objective
You have to get much more specific if you want to attract the attention of the public. Each of the provinces have their pet peeve as far as cuts or muzzling of scientific information. There is no reason why each of the universities across Canada can't chose a more localized problem, one that is familiar to the people of that area, eg. here in BC it would quite likely be fisheries, and concentrate on getting that information out to the public as well as staging protests. Oh, we've done that haven't we? And did Harper and gang pay attention? NOT!
I have enjoyed the recent upstaging (eg. medical doctors) of Harper goons. We need to do more of that whenever possible.
And I'm going to take this opportunity, once again, to promote the book HARPERLAND by Lawrence Martin. A must read!
Fritz
45 weeks ago
Harperland
When I saw this:
Okanagan Orchardist
"And I'm going to take this opportunity, once again, to promote the book HARPERLAND by Lawrence Martin. A must read!"
So I googled it and stumbled on this:
Review by Geoff Norquay
http://www.earnscliffe.ca/pdf/dec10_norquay.pdf
Whoa, talk about Julius Scissor, what a cut up on Lawrence Martin. Who is this inflamed Norquay?
"Geoff Norquay is a seasoned public policy and communications specialist with extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. He advises a number of large corporate clients in the energy, broadcast, pharmaceutical and nuclear sectors...
Between 1981 and 1984, he served as Director of Research for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and from 1984 to 1988, in a variety of senior policy advisory capacities in the Prime Minister's Office of the Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney."
http://www.earnscliffe.ca/team-bio.php?bio=13
That bit of bio may help to explain why "HARPERLAND" is touchy sh*t.for Norquay.
This review is by Don Martin:
"...Stephen Harper proved he’s a brass-knuckled street fighter with a glass jaw...Mr. Harper’s problem is not the big picture; it’s the small pixels that distort Mr. Harper’s features into the angry face of a man who lies awake at night dreaming up ways to kill Liberals..."
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/10/04/don-martin-harperland-a-potential-guidebook-to-conservative-majority/
And there I was thinking "Don Martin" was a cartoonist for Mad Magazine.
Thanks for the tip O.O.
ps:
Am I hallucinating or does the Tyee computer not like me clicking the PREVIEW button?
It almost always makes me do the WORD VERIFICATION test if I don't go straight to POST COMMENT button.
Incidentally, "YY4WU" is not a word.
Okanagan Orchardist
45 weeks ago
Norquay...
probably works for the Fraser Institute as well
lemurr
45 weeks ago
I know where to get a coffin
Cmon Vancouver, I know Vandu will lend us their coffin. Anybody who knows about a group or individuals planning to do something here please post in this section and I will check back. This is important stuff.
Notorious
26 weeks ago
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