It was not a good time for Canadian citizens
May 10, 2016 1:49 PM   Subscribe

After nine years of censorship, Canadian scientists can speak about their work. Although it may take time for the policy changes to make their way through the bureaucracy.

It could take years for Canadian scientists to recover from heavy funding cuts, low morale and tight control over communication. Looking back over what happened, Macdonald remembers something his grandmother once told him. “It takes ten years to make a good garden, but you can wreck it in six months,” he says. “It’s like that with science.”

Previously
posted by ursus_comiter (34 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
Shark researcher Steve Campana danced in his office at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik

What a marvellous, marvellous sentence.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:57 PM on May 10, 2016 [28 favorites]


Thanks, Trudeau!
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 1:58 PM on May 10, 2016 [16 favorites]


Harper

*spits
posted by saturday_morning at 2:10 PM on May 10, 2016 [21 favorites]


It's really remarkable how good it feels to have not Harper in charge. Trudeau doesn't even need to do much other than not be Harper and it feels like a goddamned renaissance.
posted by Hoopo at 2:10 PM on May 10, 2016 [52 favorites]


Indeed.

Obama wasn't Bush, and he won a Nobel Prize for it.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:13 PM on May 10, 2016 [45 favorites]


As a Canadian ex-pat doing science in the US, this was one of the two things that irked me the most about the Harper government. Now they just need to let me vote again.
posted by Johnny Assay at 2:13 PM on May 10, 2016 [5 favorites]


Related: Justin Trudeau explains quantum computing

A journalist in the audience jokingly said, “I was going to ask you to explain quantum computing, but.... haha...” The subtext: We are all too dumb to really grasp this esoteric thing—that is only for really smart people with PhDs. The Prime Minister didn’t join in the hilarity. Instead...

posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 2:38 PM on May 10, 2016 [10 favorites]


Missing the 'FuckHarper' metatag.
posted by Fizz at 2:45 PM on May 10, 2016 [5 favorites]


Related: Justin Trudeau explains quantum computing

He can pronounce 'nuclear' too.
posted by adept256 at 2:57 PM on May 10, 2016 [1 favorite]


Six months to ruin a garden? A back hoe'll do it in ten minutes.
posted by tspae at 3:00 PM on May 10, 2016


Good Day. Our topic today is global climate change.
Cooo, loo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coooo!
Climate change is taking off eh.
Good day!
posted by srboisvert at 3:33 PM on May 10, 2016 [4 favorites]


Just remember it was the Trudeau government's decision to sell LAVs (armored troop carriers with turrets and guns) to Saudi, a country ineptly waging a murderous war in Yemen.

And the Trudeau government's zeal for spin is pretty scary. The quantum physics thing was a setup.
posted by My Dad at 3:33 PM on May 10, 2016 [2 favorites]


The quantum physics thing was a setup.

it was and it wasn't.
posted by GuyZero at 3:39 PM on May 10, 2016 [52 favorites]


Yes, Trudeau is imperfect. Shock horror stop the presses. He's still better than Harper. And, arguably, Mulcair (for whose party I nevertheless voted).
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:41 PM on May 10, 2016 [8 favorites]


The quantum physics thing was a setup.

it was and it wasn't.


Says someone who doesn't know anything about it.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:42 PM on May 10, 2016 [9 favorites]


Of course it was a setup. He spent the day talking to physicists so he could better understand their work and help explain it's importance to the Canadian people. Like a Prime Minister.
posted by adept256 at 3:47 PM on May 10, 2016 [19 favorites]


And the Trudeau government's zeal for spin is pretty scary.

I'll take someone who engages the public over a weird, reclusive, anti-social hermit any day.
posted by Dark Messiah at 3:59 PM on May 10, 2016 [5 favorites]


Nice one, GuyZero!
posted by idb at 4:15 PM on May 10, 2016


Says someone who doesn't know anything about it.

....says the guy from Australia.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:26 PM on May 10, 2016 [3 favorites]


I was in the middle of yakking at dinner with friends last Saturday and couldn't bring Harper's name to mind...and for about half a minute, neither could anyone else at the table. Joys of alcohol.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:32 PM on May 10, 2016 [3 favorites]


Of course it was a setup. He spent the day talking to physicists so he could better understand their work and help explain it's importance to the Canadian people. Like a Prime Minister.

I'm no unreserved Trudeau fan, but we have to start talking about stuff like this. Harper's idea of innovation was "How do we dig up more rocks and cut down more trees?"

That's not to say that resource extraction isn't a key part of our economy, but investing in STEM, people, and education is part of how we get beyond that.

And, getting back to the FPP, making government science jobs look enticing because you might be able to talk about your work in the public interest.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:44 PM on May 10, 2016 [2 favorites]


Trudeau's recent explanation of quantum computing — which has garnered well over a million views on YouTube — was described as "beautiful" by Jenna Brayton, associate director of content for the Office of Digital Strategy at the White House.

"I wanted to send an email to [Trudeau's] social media team to say 'Great job,'" Brayton said during a recent visit to Montreal. "They've done their research."


Sure, the Trudeau Liberals are better than the Harper Conservatives, but at the end of the day, what would George Orwell say? 'Politics and the English Language' needs a serious update.
posted by My Dad at 4:44 PM on May 10, 2016


Missing the 'FuckHarper' metatag.

Not me! Also don't miss that feeling of nausea and vertigo that happens when your framework of values and reality is brutally and shamelessly unbricked, piece by piece, day by day, by an obviously compromised and bankrupt (prorogation x infinity, remember?) person (who has cheerleaders with an incomplete appreciation of the need for civilization thumping him along for the sake of a few hundred bucks off their taxes). Which mandolin conspiracy kind of woke up, a bit, thanks mc :/

Trudeau feels like too much of an actor for my liking, but he's doing the right things, mostly. Digestion undisturbed by this PM.
posted by cotton dress sock at 4:51 PM on May 10, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm no unreserved Trudeau fan, but we have to start talking about stuff like this. Harper's idea of innovation was "How do we dig up more rocks and cut down more trees?"

Given the amount of time it takes to set up funding—at least one fiscal year—the funding for the quantum computing facility was likely a Harper government decision.

The Harper government's science and technology strategy was not all bad, by the way, depending on your perspective. A lot of funding for "pure science" was shifted into commercialization. This was a big debate over the past decade. Canada truly has an innovation deficit compared to other G7 countries, yet we spend a lot of money on pure research; results of the research are then locked up in postsecondary institutions rather than increasing the productivity of our economy.

That's the argument, anyway. It's a bit of a separate issue from preventing government scientists from being interviewed on the radio and on television (I believe government scientists were always free to publish their research in scientific journals).
posted by My Dad at 4:52 PM on May 10, 2016


the Trudeau government's decision to sell LAVs

Hold on... you mean the $15 billion deal signed by the Harper Government in 2014? Is that the decision you mean? I loved hearing the Conservatives try to attack Trudeau over that.


Oh, and as for the quantum computing explanation...
Like a Prime Minister former teacher
Yeah, much better.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 4:55 PM on May 10, 2016 [5 favorites]


Just remember it was the Trudeau government's decision to sell LAVs (armored troop carriers with turrets and guns) to Saudi, a country ineptly waging a murderous war in Yemen.

It was the Trudeau government's decision to not cancel a deal that was made prior to their taking power (announced by Harper in 2014). Try and at least be accurate in your criticism.

For context Canada has sold Saudi Arabia 500 armoured personal carriers since 1990 and Saudi Arabia is Canada's largest arms purchaser (and one of the world's largest overall) and they are a key partner in joint projects like the F35 fiasco and if they were to retaliate it would have significant repercussions for Canada both in terms of direct sales and in arms sales to the U.S.

It's not a flippant thing to tell your trade partners and allies to fuck off (even when they are doing evil).
posted by srboisvert at 4:57 PM on May 10, 2016 [5 favorites]


Trudeau's recent explanation of quantum computing was described as "beautiful" by Jenna Brayton

Reaction from people who actually know anything about quantum computing was more mixed, but largely positive.
posted by sfenders at 5:06 PM on May 10, 2016 [1 favorite]


Says someone who doesn't know anything about it.

....says the guy from Australia.


Now you can't be sure where I'm going with this. Or how quickly!
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:49 PM on May 10, 2016 [4 favorites]


>>The quantum physics thing was a setup.

>it was and it wasn't.


I saw what you did there! (Do I hear a cat mewing?)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:53 PM on May 10, 2016 [2 favorites]


The quantum physics thing was a setup

I've read J.J. McCullough's Gawker endorsed partisan rant on the subject and frankly I'm not convinced one way or the other. Regardless, a prime minister who is actively interested in the subject of science or even good at faking it is better than what we had with Harper or what Mulcair had to offer. As for the Saudi arms deal, very little convinces me that any of the parties would have done the right thing.
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:08 PM on May 10, 2016 [1 favorite]


I know full well that the Libs are always gonna lib, but I'm not over my honeymoon period with Justin yet.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 6:29 PM on May 10, 2016 [5 favorites]


Mod note: A few deleted. Let's drop the arms manufacturing / selling derail. My Dad, please refrain from disrupting threads in this way.
posted by taz (staff) at 5:18 AM on May 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


Stuff like this should be pretty easy for politicians. They do similar stuff with people all the time.

Trudeau wakes up knowing nothing about quantum computing. His staff, having seen this event coming up, prepares a canned explanation for their boss and a bit of info about quantum computing. He memorizes the little speech both so HE is more familiar with the subject and so he can use that same explanation if asked. Being the smart guy that he is, he aught to be able to pick up a decent layman's explanation of grasp some of the basic implications of the concept without a ton of effort or time.

It's not really that different from when they meet some random but important constituent, their staff gives them a brief on who they are and why they're important and then the politician spends a few minutes making that person feel super special and interesting and getting know them a little bit and be enthusiastically engaged with that person for a minute or two.

I wouldn't even expect a politician to be familiar with stuff like this, but I DO expect that they'll leverage their staff and available experts to pretty quickly GET familiar enough to understand it a little and be able to make reasonably educated decisions about it.
posted by VTX at 9:13 AM on May 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Trudeau used to be a teacher. Understanding concepts and transmitting them in an understandable fashion is what he's been trained to do.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:02 AM on May 12, 2016 [1 favorite]


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