The Reversal of Canada: The Great Warm North

Taking his marching orders from his policy mentor, George W, Stephen Harper's government eviscerated Environment Canada's programs concerning global warming this week. This was not really unexpected, of course. Harper's ties to the petroleum industry are as obvious as the Bush's. And almost everyone knows about how Harper has muzzled ministers, and tightly controls all access to the press. However, this news is downright egregious, and portends a raft of policies that would seek to stifle anyone who would dare suggest that King Stephen's view of the world is less than total:

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose has stopped an Environment Canada scientist from speaking publicly about his own novel. ... Mark Tushingham has written a science fiction novel called Hotter than Hell. It is set in the not-too-distant future when global warming has made many parts of the world too hot to live in and has prompted a war between Canada and the U.S. over water resources. Tushingham was scheduled to speak in Ottawa about his book and the science underpinning it. But an order from Ambrose's office stopped him.

Yes there was the bureaucratic gobbledegook about following proper procedures, but the message was clear. Either Minister Ambrose cannot distinguish between fact and fiction, or there is a general fear of anything that might dispute or call into question government policy.

Stephen Harper - putting the total into totalitarianism. Sad. Very, very sad.
[Technorati tags: tushingham | ambrose | hotter than hell | free speech | harper]