Canadian Scientists Fight Back Against Government Censorship Rules

Recent rules silencing government researchers in Canada have sparked protests in 16 major cities, the Guardian reports. The Harper administration over the past few years has ordered scientists at Canada’s National Research Council, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and other government research agencies not to discuss work on a number of climate- and environment-related issues with journalists, the public, or even fellow researchers. Scientists have been asked not to comment on topics ranging from snowflakes to salmon, even after results have been published in major scientific journals. Critics charge that the Harper administration has a track record of muzzling environmental research. Earlier this month the administration was accused of stalling a major report on greenhouse emissions — widely expected to document significant rises in carbon pollution — because the study could deal a blow to Harper’s efforts to secure U.S. approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, the Guardian reports.