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Saturday, December 1, 2012

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Scientist muzzled, report says

Specialist on ozone couldnt talk about hole
nvironment Minister Peter Kent has repeatedly said the government does not muzzle its scientists. But Kents office stopped David Tarasick, an Environment Canada researcher, from talking to journalists about a report on last years unprecedented Arctic ozone hole, according to documents obtained by Postmedia News under the Access to Information Act. Its the latest case uncovered by Postmedia News in which ministers offices or the Privy Council Office have prevented federal scientists from talking to the media about their science. The documents also say Kents office and the Privy Council Office, which reports to the prime minister, decide when and if Environment Canada scientists are allowed to brief the media about anything from wildlife to water quality. Last fall, Kent was adamant in the House of Commons, saying: We are not muzzling scientists. The minister reported to a parliamentary committee in May that circumstances simply did not work out to allow Tarasick to give interviews when a study he co-authored on the Arctic ozone hole was published in Nature, a leading science journal. The documents show Tarasick was keen and available to discuss the remarkable changes seen in the Earths protective ozone layer, but Kents office would not permit him to speak to journalists when the study came out. The department recommended to the ministers office that this interview take place, the documents say, referring to a request from Postmedia News to speak with Tarasick about the study. The interview was denied. Requests from CBC, Radio Canada and CTV to interview Tarasick about the ozone hole were also denied. The reporters were told the interviews cannot be granted. Instead, they were emailed approved written comments. Tarasick, a research scientist based at Environment Canadas atmospheric research centre in Toronto, has spent his career tracking ozone, which helps shield the planet from harmful radia-

MArgAret Munro Postmedia News

environment Minister Peter Kent speaks during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in ottawa on Wednesday. tion. The documents show he was game to discuss the study of the giant hole in the ozone layer that formed over the Arctic in 2011. He responded to an email from one journalist saying: Id be delighted to talk to you, but I rather doubt Ill be allowed to. I am required to refer you to Media Relations. Tarasick suggested the reporter contact some of his co-authors on the study at academic and foreign institutions. My apologies for the strange behaviour of EC (Environment Canada), Tarasick wrote. The media office told the reporters to attribute a written response to Tarasick, but the documents suggest officials in Ottawa were in charge of the statement released. I havent given you any proposed responses, Tarasick said in an email to the departments media office after being informed that the proposed responses are with the ADM (assistant deputy minister) for review right now. The heavily redacted documents do not say why Kents office would not allow Tarasick to discuss the study that attracted international attention when it was published on Oct. 2, 2011. The documents show that two weeks after telling journalists Tarasick could not talk about the study, Environment Canada officials changed their minds and decided he could do interviews. By then, the reporters had already aired and published their stories on the ozone hole study without interviewing Tarasick. Kents office did not respond to requests for comment about the documents and Mark Johnson, in Environment Canadas media office, would not say why Tarasick was prevented from giving interviews or how that fits with Kents statements that the government does not silence scientists. Johnson responded to questions about Tarasick by email, saying more than 90 per cent of the interviews requested with scientists are granted and we are proud of that record. The silencing of Tarasick is not an isolated case. Federal geologist Scott Dallimore was not permitted to talk about a prehistoric flood that swept across northern Canada 13,000 years ago, while fisheries biologist Kristi Miller could not discuss a landmark study looking at premature death of salmon on the West Coast. The newly released documents suggest Environment Canada staff are free to discuss only the weather. On other calls, we must consult the Ministers office and obtain approval before proceeding with providing responses to reporters, say briefing notes prepared in late 2011 for Karen Dodds, Environment Canadas assistant deputy minister for science and technology. The notes describe in

Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press

detail Environment Canadas media interview policy. Once the necessary information and content has been gathered, and the appropriate spokesperson is identified, media relations provides a proposed response and recommendation to the ministers office for approval as to whether an interview will be scheduled or a written response will be provided. The notes say the media relations office will send the request to the Privy Council Office for approval when it comes from a national or international media outlet, or relates to climate change, water quality, or protection of species such as polar bears or caribou. The documents show a team of media relation officers, strategic communication advisers and highlevel officials are busy executing the departments communication policy.

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