Saskatoon scientist breaks silence about muzzling

[Oscar]

Saskatoon scientist breaks silence about muzzling

< http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story ... -1402.html >

CBC News Posted: Apr 3, 2013 8:40 AM CST

Last Updated: Apr 3, 2013 8:38 AM CST

A retired federal researcher based in Saskatoon is going public with concerns Ottawa is muzzling scientists like her.

Marley Waiser, 59, spent more than 25 years with Environment Canada, most recently with the National Water Research Institute in Saskatoon.

She retired last year, about a year after CBC News did a story about pollution in Regina's Wascana Creek that referenced her research.

In an interview, she says she wasn't allowed to talk to a CBC reporter about that story, but now wants her voice heard.

"I was reticent to come forward for fear of losing my job, or the repercussions," she said.

Waiser wrote two scientific papers for Environment Canada that were published in 2011 that looked at chemical pollutants (such as phosporus and ammonia) and pharmaceuticals (such as trace antibiotics) in Wascana Creek.

Both kinds of pollution were found downstream of the Regina sewage treatment plant west of the city.

Waiser says when CBC contacted her to talk about the research, Environment Canada higher-ups lowered the boom.

'One of the first things they said after reading the two papers on Wascana Creek is that they didn't want to upset the City of Regina.'—Retired federal scientist Marley Waiser

- - - SNIP - - -

Environment Canada declined a recorded interview, but in an email, a spokesperson said the department won't comment on "hearsay."

The department says its researchers are encouraged to publish their work and civil servants are not muzzled.

Meanwhile, the office of Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault says it will be investigating similar claims involving seven government institutions, including Environment Canada and the Treasury Board.

- - - - -

LISTEN: Saskatchewan Scientist says she was Muzzled

< http://www.cbc.ca/morningedition/episod ... index.html >

A former federal researcher says Ottawa is muzzling scientists like her. Marley Waiser spent more than 25 years with Environment Canada. She retired last year and is now speaking out on the Morning Edition.

- - - - -

Scientist muzzling probed by information commissioner

Complaint was filed by Democracy Watch and University of Victoria on Feb. 20

< http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story ... ioner.html >

CBC News Posted: Apr 1, 2013 11:45 AM ET
Last Updated: Apr 2, 2013 1:36 PM ET comments 1761

Video Content

Canada's information commissioner has confirmed that her office will investigate allegations that the federal government is muzzling its scientists.

The office of Suzanne Legault has concluded that a complaint made by Democracy Watch and the University of Victoria's Environmental Law Clinic in February falls within its mandate, wrote Emily McCarthy, assistant information commissioner, in a letter released Monday by Democracy Watch, an Ottawa-based non-profit organization that advocates for government accountability.

The letter, dated March 27, added that the office has notified and sent a summary of the complaint to the relevant government institutions:

MORE:

< http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story ... ioner.html >

- - - - -

Regina's Wascana Creek has damaging pollutants

< http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... creek.html >

CBC News Posted: Aug 29, 2011 1:22 PM CST
Last Updated: Aug 29, 2011 2:03 PM CST

Read 40 comments40

- - - -

As dismantling begins, shuttering of research station called a 'travesty'

< http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... le9846568/ >

Gloria Galloway OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail

Published Saturday, Mar. 16 2013, 8:00 AM EDT

Last updated Saturday, Mar. 16 2013, 2:41 PM EDT

The federal government says it is still trying to find a buyer for the world-renowned freshwater research station in Northern Ontario that it is closing at the end of this month, but it has already sent in a crew to start taking down buildings.

The doors of the old sleeping cabins at the 45-year-old Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) are being ripped off, the appliances are being taken away, and the personal belongings of researchers are being removed. . . . . .

MORE:

< http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... le9846568/ >

- - - - -

Enviro Law Clinic asks for investigation of government 'muzzling' of scientists

< http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/03 ... _muzzling/ >

By Crawford Kilian Published March 15, 2013 05:30 pm |

The Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Victoria has published its request to the Information Commissioner of Canada, asking for an investigation of the muzzling of federal scientists, including a report detailing numerous cases in which either researchers were silenced or their findings were kept from the media.

In its letter of transmittal to Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault, the ELC wrote:

< http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/03 ... _muzzling/ >


- - - - -

MAY: Tightening the grip: muzzling of scientists ramps up

< http://elizabethmaymp.ca/news/publicati ... -ramps-up/ >

Island Tides regional newspaper February 28, 2013

EXCERPT:

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.

MORE:

< http://elizabethmaymp.ca/news/publicati ... -ramps-up/ >