Un-muzzle the scientists? Not so fast. – Macleans.ca

2014/08/27 Leave a comment

Andrew Leach in Macleans on government science and un-muzzling, and trying to find the fine balance between a more open approach and respecting the public servant role and policy process.

His arguments are valid in the macro-sense, but that the Government’s overly zealous focus on controlling the message has tipped the scale too much the wrong way. But a thoughtful contribution to the debate:

For me, the key questions are whether government researchers should, themselves, be able to speak out when they feel a government policy does not align with the evidence and, if so, why we would only restrict that to a particular class of government researchers? To speak out publicly against government policy is, by the current definition, fundamentally at odds with the role of a public servant in our democracy. Public servants are expected to provide impartial advice to the policy development process and loyal implementation of government policies once decisions are taken. They are not supposed to critique that policy publicly when it doesn’t align with their interpretation of the evidence or their beliefs with respect to how that evidence should be weighed. Allowing public servants to be openly critical of government decisions – whether based on scientific evidence or any other criteria – turns the relationship between the bureaucracy and their democratically elected masters on its head, undermining the trust essential to an effective working relationship.

Should we have more open government science? Perhaps. I think the better question is to what degree government-supported research should take place in arms-length agencies (the U.S. model for agencies like NASA and the Energy Information Administration come to mind) or outsourced to universities via government granting agencies as opposed to being housed in policy departments. Research housed outside of government departments would allow elected and bureaucratic offices to determine which questions are being asked by researchers or which subject areas are being explored without having influence over the answers or controlling the message. It would also mean that researchers were not privy to the policy discussions of the day and would not necessarily be involved when their research is used to support a decision. There are also options within the public service: perhaps Statistics Canada could broaden its role to collect and publish more environmental statistics such as the sea ice coverage, which was the subject of so much consternation this week, perhaps absorbing some of the functions now performed within Environment Canada. In the same way in which no one would ask a Statistics Canada official what government should do to combat youth unemployment or to raise median incomes when those data are published, no one would ask whether the extent of sea ice coverage should influence our climate change policy choices. When you’re asking officials from the department with jurisdiction over both our domestic climate change policies and our intervention in international climate change negotiations about sea ice coverage, the implications are very different. The questions to the scientist might even be policy-neutral, but I expect most of the resulting articles would not be.

If you want to take the muzzle off government researchers, that’s fine if you want it for the right reasons. I’m all in favour of increasing the quality of information available both to our decision-makers and to the general public. However, we must do it without skewing the policy process. The only way to make sure that’s true if you want open access to researchers is to disconnect those undertaking primary and policy-relevant research from that process and from those departments. Whether that’s best done through arms-length institutions, through universities, or through agencies such as Statistics Canada is a topic for debate. Of course, there are some topics of current government research not suited to open inquiry, for a variety of reasons. Maybe you’re willing to sacrifice some of those topics for access to information? You might also find that some of our government’s best researchers prefer their seat at the policy table to the front pages of the newspaper. Maybe that’s a sacrifice you’re willing to make? Unfortunately, I doubt you’ll be able to rely on anyone in a lab coat to tell you with certainty which is best for the country.

Un-muzzle the scientists? Not so fast. – Macleans.ca.

Filed under Government Tagged with ,

Ottawa jihadi seeking ‘martyrdom’ with ISIS in Syria | Ottawa Citizen

2014/08/27 Leave a comment

Profile of an Ottawa man fighting with ISIS in Syria:

Counter-terrorism officials say they are concerned that Canadian fighters who survive the conflicts in Syria and Iraq may return home to spread anti-Western radicalism and conduct terrorist attacks, but Maguire does not seem to want to leave.

“He said he’s not coming back,” his aunt, Allison McPherson, said in the Ontario family’s first public comments about their plight. “My sister doesn’t expect that she will ever see him again, and probably won’t ever see him again alive.”

As a boy, Maguire had a tough time, she said. After his mother left an abusive relationship and then suffered health problems, he was raised partly by his grandparents. “John is a very smart kid,” McPherson said, “but there was always something kind of closed off, and he kept to himself. And, of course, that’s exactly what these people are looking for — a bright guy, kind of a loner, needing a place to fit in.”

According to his online profile, he went to Hillcrest High School and once wanted to be a hockey player or motocross racer. He left home for California for a few months but returned  and enrolled at the University of Ottawa.

During the fall 2012 term, he began musing on Twitter about the brutality of President Bashar Al-Assad, writing, “how can I sleep with what is happening in Syria.” But the friend said Maguire was not an activist and had displayed little interest in issues in the Muslim world.

“Now we’re all just confused. What I’m trying to figure out is how it all began,” he said. Was he swayed by something he found on the Internet? Did someone influence him? Was he upset about events abroad? “I wish I knew what it was, and I wish I could have prevented it.”

As Canadian-born, and presumably not a dual citizenship, he would not be subject to citizenship revocation unlike other extremists not born but raised in Canada.

Ottawa jihadi seeking ‘martyrdom’ with ISIS in Syria | Ottawa Citizen.

Filed under Radicalization, Revocation Tagged with , ,

Moins de place pour le Québec? | Le Devoir

2014/08/27 Leave a comment

The challenges of museums and choosing themes and approaches, in this case the Canadian History Museum (formerly Museum of Civilizations) and the shift from a geographic to a thematic approach. We will still see whether this approach works or appears too aligned with the Government’s particular historical and national narratives:

« On a aboli mon poste pour créer un poste pour l’archéologie du Canada central, déplore Yves Monette, ex-conservateur en archéologie du Québec du MCH, un des cinq postes abolis au printemps dernier. Mon expertise, c’est l’archéologie historique, et il n’y a plus personne au musée qui couvre cette période-là pour le Québec. »

En juillet, il avait eu des affectations temporaires. Il travaillait au MCH depuis cinq ans. Un autre poste de conservateur, cette fois en arts décoratifs et ameublement ancien du Québec, celui de Jean-François Blanchette, qui part à la retraite, est éliminé. Deux conservateurs adjoints et un administrateur s’ajoutent à l’attrition.

Parmi les motifs invoqués, on lui a indiqué que ses projets ne cadraient pas dans la nouvelle stratégie de recherche, alors qu’il a lui-même participé à l’élaboration de celle-ci, a défini ses projets en fonction des orientations nouvelles et a toujours reçu des évaluations positives, plaide-t-il.

…. Au MHC, on justifie les mises à pied par une réorganisation du travail en lien avec la nouvelle stratégie de recherche de l’institution développée conjointement avec le Musée canadien de la guerre, qui se décline en neuf orientations regroupées selon trois catégories : signification et mémoire, les premiers peuples et compromis et conflits.

« On a éliminé cinq postes, mais on en a créé cinq nouveaux pour que ça s’arrime à notre nouvelle stratégie de recherche, explique la porte-parole du musée, Patricia Lynch. L’embauche se fait plus selon des critères plus thématiques que géographiques, et on favorise une approche multidisciplinaire chez nos chercheurs. »

Le MCH procède actuellement à l’embauche de deux gestionnaires de la recherche et de trois conservateurs en ethnologie, en histoire autochtone et en sports et loisirs. L’équipe de 33 chercheurs n’est donc pas réduite. Au contraire, parce que le travail de chercheur fera partie des tâches de tous les nouveaux postes, « l’institution élargit ses capacités de recherche », soutient Mme Lynch.

Moins de place pour le Québec? | Le Devoir.

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with

Birth Tourism: My Canada AM interview

2014/08/26 4 Comments

From yesterday’s show, along with related CTV story.

And interesting, CIC Minister Alexander’s spokesperson responded to CTV’s request for comment with an innovative, for this government, recourse to evidence-based policy language:

Canada_AM_for_Monday__Aug__25__2014

‘Maternity tourism’: Report recommends limiting citizenship by birth

 

Filed under Birthright Citizenship, Citizenship Tagged with

The state of America’s widening wealth gap

2014/08/26 Leave a comment

Sobering. Will be looking at Canadian data over the next little while to see how we are doing:

The Census data suggest that the wealth gap in America has widened over the past decade, regardless of how you slice it. The gap between the bottom and top quintiles in America has widened, as has the gap between blacks and whites, and between workers with only a high school degree and those with much more. This implies that the returns to higher education in America are growing (in 2000, households headed by someone with a bachelor’s degree were worth 2.4 times as much as those with only a high school diploma; by 2011 the ratio was 3.4). And racial inequality in wealth is growing, too (in 2000, white households had a net worth 10.6 times larger than blacks; by 2011 it was 17.5).

As of 2011, this is what wealth in America looks like. Toggle between the groups and you can compare them, by quintile. The most well-off whites, for example, are doing substantially better than the most well-off blacks. The differences in education are even more stark. Notably, the bottom quintile of every group has a negative net worth — in other words, those households are in debt.

The state of America’s widening wealth gap – Washington Post

Filed under Multiculturalism

Lubomyr Luciuk: Remembering a time when Canadians were caged

2014/08/26 2 Comments

Lubomyr Luciuk on the World War 1 internment camps and the unveiling of plaques commemorating them. More balanced that some of the language of activists interviewed on CBC that called them “concentration camps:”

That led to the creation of the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, an inclusive body charged with hallowing the memory of all of the First World War’s “enemy aliens” through commemorative and educational initiatives. I take great satisfaction in recalling how two men working together, one of Chinese and the other of Ukrainian heritage, saw justice done, despite all the naysayers and thwarters. The country Inky and I share is one we are proud to be citizens of.

Today, one hundred years after passage of The War Measures Act — the same Act deployed in the Second World War against our fellow Japanese, Italian, and German Canadians, and against some Québécois in 1970 — over 100 plaques will be unveiled at 11 am local time in over 60 cities, starting in Amherst, Nova Scotia then flowing west to Nanaimo, B.C., a first-ever event in Canadian history. This national wave of remembrance, beginning and ending at internment camp sites, will sweep from coast to coast where a wave of repression once passed. These plaques fulfil Mary’s dream.

Lubomyr Luciuk: Remembering a time when Canadians were caged

Filed under Historical Recognition Tagged with , ,

Les Québécois «exilés» dans le Canada | Le Devoir

2014/08/26 Leave a comment

Following Lucien Bouchard’s reflections on the referendum of almost 20 years ago and the Bloc québécois, Guy LaForest, a well-known Laval professor, comments on the current situation:

Le professeur doit publier dans les prochains jours Un Québec exilé dans la fédération,un essai qui offre une porte de sortie au cul-de-sac politique actuel. Le Québec fait du surplace depuis l’échec du référendum de 1995, déplore Guy Laforest. « On ne part pas du Canada, mais on ne participe pas. Je pense que ça a des conséquences désastreuses pour le Québec », dit-il.

Les Québécois assistent en spectateurs au match politique à Ottawa. Ils n’ont jamais été aussi peu présents dans les cercles du pouvoir fédéral, constate le professeur. Ottawa leur rend la pareille : le Québec ne figure plus sur l’écran radar du Canada. Et les gouvernements successifs à Québec ont échoué à proposer des revendications attrayantes pour les électeurs.

« Comme pas mal d’autres personnes au Québec, sur les plans de l’identité politique et de l’appartenance, je ne suis pas un citoyen heureux dans le Canada de la Charte », écrit Guy Laforest.

« L’expression “exil intérieur” décrit très bien le fondement de ma pensée. Car un exilé de l’intérieur, c’est quelqu’un qui se sent inconfortable, qui vit comme un étranger au sein de son propre pays », ajoute-t-il.

Les Québécois «exilés» dans le Canada | Le Devoir.

Filed under Government Tagged with , ,

The Franco-American Flophouse: FATCA Lawsuit Filed in the Federal Court of Canada

2014/08/26 Leave a comment

Victoria Ferauge, an American expatriate in Paris and active on the FATCA issue, commenting on the Canadian court case (see Virginia Hillis, Gwendolyn Deegan sue Ottawa over new FATCA tax rules):

And here we finally come to the Canadian lawsuit.  The plaintiffs claim that FATCA as it is being implemented in Canada violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which among other things, shields Canadian citizens from unreasonable search and seizures and assures equal protection/non-discrimination in the application of the law. Ginny and Gwen, two very courageous women, are “Accidental Americans”.   They were born in the US but have lived in Canada most of their lives and they not willing to be reduced to semi-citizenship in Canada.  They are Canadian, they live in Canada, and US status should make no difference whatsoever in what rights they have under Canadian law.  Period.

If you wish to argue otherwise, please think hard about the implications of that.  Could a law made in Mexico that violates the rights of Mexican-Americans under the US Constitution be nevertheless applied to them with the blessing nay, the full participation and enforcement of the US government?   And it is all the more troubling when one sees all the situations where individuals do contest the attribution of citizenship  without their consent by a country they dont live in and dont consider themselves to have duties and responsibilities to. All dual citizens everywhere in the world should pay close attention to how this shakes out.

If any of you out there are interested in supporting this cause there are a couple of ways you can help.  Ginny and Gwen have really gone out on a limb here by going public and they could use your moral support.  You can send them a note here.   Another, of course, is through a donation which you can make here.

The Franco-American Flophouse: FATCA Lawsuit Filed in the Federal Court of Canada.

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with , , , ,

Canadians in terrorist armies threaten us all – CSIS and Canadian Responsibility

2014/08/25 Leave a comment

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director Michel Coulombe’s op-ed on radicalization. Not much new in his overview, and no particular insights into why some are radicalized or not, but nevertheless worth reading.

I found however his comment below interesting in light of the Government’s recent changes to the Citizenship Act providing for revocation in cases of dual nationals engaged in terrorist activities.

Coulombe is saying that this is a “Canadian problem.”

Indeed, so why therefore should we banish or exile them, rather than locking them up in Canada?

Even if a Canadian extremist does not immediately return, he or she is still a Canadian problem. No country can become an unwitting exporter of terrorism without suffering damage to its international image and relations. Just as Canada expects other nations to prevent their citizens from harming Canadians and Canadian interests, we too are obligated to deny Canadian extremists the ability to kill and terrorize people of other countries.

 

Same point made by Chris Selley of the National Post, among others (Stripping jihadis’ citizenship feels good. But what good does it do?, Actually, my citizenship is a right):

Canadians in terrorist armies threaten us all – The Globe and Mail.

Filed under Citizenship, Radicalization, Revocation Tagged with , , ,

What unites these slain native women? An inquiry might tell us – The Globe and Mail

2014/08/25 Leave a comment

Renzetti in the Globe on the need for an enquiry regarding slain native women and the double standards society has with respect to the most vulnerable (think of Leonard Cohen’s wonderful song, Everybody Knows):

This government’s fear of facts, study and research into any topic that might cast it in a poor light is well documented, and not worth repeating here. But where actual lives are at stake, this truculence beggars belief: It is only three-year-olds, and not national governments, who should hide in the dark with pillows over their heads hoping that the bad thing will go away if they just don’t look. If they look, of course, they might just see something unpleasant that requires immediate attention, and a bit of courage.

On Feb. 13, the day police believe Inuit university student Loretta Saunders was killed in Halifax, the Native Women’s Association of Canada presented 23,000 signatures to the House of Commons, calling for a national inquiry. Those names may as well have been written in invisible ink, for all the attention Mr. Harper gave them.

Does that sound cynical? I feel cynical at this moment. If hundreds of cattle farmers had gone missing, or if oil executives and Bay Street lawyers were being snatched from the streets, I bet we would have studies and recommendations coming out our ears. You wouldn’t see the Peace Tower for the mountains of paper. Some lucky developer would be building a maximum-security prison to deal with the horrible wave of farmer/executive/lawyer violence. Dolefully voiced television commercials would warn of the danger to men in suits and Stetsons.

But these are aboriginal women, many of them poor and described, euphemistically, as “living a vulnerable lifestyle.” You would think that the vulnerable would be more in need of the state’s protection, not less, but perhaps I’m living in some utopian dream of Canada – the kind you see on TV, sometimes, advertising the country to foreign tourists.

What unites these slain native women? An inquiry might tell us – The Globe and Mail.

Filed under Government Tagged with , , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →