

Tightened muzzle on Canadian scientists is 'Orwellian' - fmw
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Tightened+muzzle+scientists+Orwellian/3515345/story.html

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jacquesm
What bugs me about this is that the scientists actually honored the
governments request in this. They should have simply gone right ahead and make
a big stink rather than to be meek sheep and to complain afterwards they
didn't get their say.

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fmw
Well, the problem is that governments hire academics to do studies for them,
which makes them their clients. That puts a scientist in a weird position.

Here in the Netherlands, I know of a study that is jointly paid for by two
government departments, but the steering committee won't allow one of them to
access the preliminary results because they're afraid it will leak before it
is final, or something to that extent. I have to be a bit oblique here, but
the point is that civil servants tend to be rather fearful when it comes to
"managing information".

