The Atlantic Region of the Public Service Alliance of Canada stood in solidarity with the non-profit science advocacy group “Evidence for Democracy,” scientists, and concerned members of the public on September 16th, 2013 at the Stand Up For Science Rally in Halifax, NS. No doubt scientists would rather be doing research than rallying.
However it was important to bring attention to the concerns of Canadians because under the current government many important scientific institutions have received unwarranted and reckless cuts. There has been a shift in science funding toward the commercialization of research at the expense of more fundamental research, and government scientists have lost their ability to communicate their research to the public. In the Atlantic Provinces, government cuts have hit hard at our members with the impending closing of the RCMP Forensic Lab in Dartmouth, cuts to DFO which meant closing the St. Andrew’s, NB Containments and Toxicology Department, eliminating the Parks Canada Laboratory in Dartmouth, NS, as well as the CFIA food inspection lab in St. John’s, NL. PSAC members participated in this rally as our union continues to support evidence based decision making in public policy making. Furthermore we call on the Harper Government to cease immediately their muzzling of government scientists and the decimating of Federal scientific departments at the expense of all Canadians.
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