Harper Gags EnviroCan Scientists to Keep Mum about Tar Sands Snowpack Contamination

Stephen Harper and his minions don't want you finding out that tar sands contaminants are accumulating in snow in the vicinity of the bitumen mines.

Harper and his Fossil Fueler bosses always fall back on the same tactic - what you don't know won't hurt them.   And to make damned sure you don't know about the tar sands snowpack contamination, Harper and his political commissars in the PMO have slapped the gags tightly on Environment Canada scientists, the people you pay for with your taxes.   You might pick up their salaries but they're not allowed to talk to you candidly about what they're discovering.   That's because Steve has insinuated himself between them and the taxpaying public, thereby neatly transforming them, against their will, into Steve's partisan political agency.

Environment Canada scientists have confirmed results published by researchers from the University of Alberta showing contaminants accumulating in the snow near oilsands operations, an internal federal document has revealed.

They also discovered contaminants in precipitation from testing in the region.

But the researchers were discouraged from speaking to reporters about their findings, first presented at a November 2011 conference in Boston of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, says the document, released to Postmedia News through access to information.

The original study, led by University of Alberta scientists Erin Kelly and David Schindler, analyzed winter snow and found that contamination levels were "highest near oilsands development compared to farther away," said the document released by the government.

The document, which was attached to an email indicating the information was also in the hands of the office of Environment Minister Peter Kent, provided a scripted list of answers that explained researchers had tested the toxicity of the Athabasca River water in the spring of 2010 with negative results, and also that no link was established between levels of contaminants found and any effect on fish.

The scripted answers also recommended that the federal scientists decline answering questions about the cost of a monitoring system or about Environment Canada's role and actions in the region.

If asked questions of this nature, the scientists were told in the script to say: "I am a scientist. I'm not in a position to answer that question but I'd be happy to refer you to an appropriate spokesperson."

Notice that sound?  That's a another part of your democratic freedoms being flushed down Steve Harper's toilet.