'Science' in the House
Joy.
You may or may not recall one of Plastic Man's first acts as Prime Minister was to demote the position of National Science Adviser from the Privy Council, where he reported directly to the PM, to Industry Canada; which I think tells you all you need to say about the Conservatives' attitude to science.
Or I thought it did.
There's a new man appointed to Minister of Science and Technology. Unlike the demoted 'science adviser', (who had over 300 publications in peer reviewed journals, was president of the National Research Council for 10 years, was a former president of the Canadian Society for Chemistry, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is an Officer of the Order of Merit in France, had served on many, many boards of science and industry councils, has honorary degrees from thirteen universities and honorary professorships from two more, has worked on advisory boards in several countries, and has five patents among other notable accomplishments and awards), this new guy graduated cum laude from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. School motto: "Do you have great people skills and the drive it takes be an entrepreneur? If so, becoming a Doctor of Chiropractic may be in your future!"
Now, I know what you're thinking: why didn't they just nominate a chiropractor in the first place? After all, they link to a study that concludes:
Even if this government appointment thing doesn't work out for him, Minister Goodyear can always fall back on his fellowship in clinical acupuncture. Plus, he's apparently worked as an 'adviser to investment firms in the biomedical industry'.
So really, as far as our government understanding complex scientific questions, we're in good hands.
You may or may not recall one of Plastic Man's first acts as Prime Minister was to demote the position of National Science Adviser from the Privy Council, where he reported directly to the PM, to Industry Canada; which I think tells you all you need to say about the Conservatives' attitude to science.
Or I thought it did.
There's a new man appointed to Minister of Science and Technology. Unlike the demoted 'science adviser', (who had over 300 publications in peer reviewed journals, was president of the National Research Council for 10 years, was a former president of the Canadian Society for Chemistry, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is an Officer of the Order of Merit in France, had served on many, many boards of science and industry councils, has honorary degrees from thirteen universities and honorary professorships from two more, has worked on advisory boards in several countries, and has five patents among other notable accomplishments and awards), this new guy graduated cum laude from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. School motto: "Do you have great people skills and the drive it takes be an entrepreneur? If so, becoming a Doctor of Chiropractic may be in your future!"
Now, I know what you're thinking: why didn't they just nominate a chiropractor in the first place? After all, they link to a study that concludes:
Providers, policy makers and insurers need to move toward universal, validated, evidence-based treatment guidelines.And if that's not support for chiropractors, I don't know what is!
Even if this government appointment thing doesn't work out for him, Minister Goodyear can always fall back on his fellowship in clinical acupuncture. Plus, he's apparently worked as an 'adviser to investment firms in the biomedical industry'.
So really, as far as our government understanding complex scientific questions, we're in good hands.
Labels: Science
2 Comments:
And right-wingers complain when people call the Harper Conservatives "Republicans Lite" ... First the medical isotopes scandal and now this.
I'm just glad we don't have Vice-Prime Ministers in Canada.
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