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Originally Posted by mykalberta
Just wondering, do companies have this sort of policy with employees and the media. Have their been alot of BP employees speaking out to the media?
I would think taxpayer funded scientists are employees of the government and would be under the same sort of keep your mouth shut or we will fire you policy.
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I think there's a difference. A corporate scientist is an employee of the corporation, and is expected to follow corporate rules, which usually includes not saying things that are bad for the bottom line. That's why when a BP scientist says that oil spills don't hurt anything or a tobacco company scientist says cigarettes are good for you we don't take them at their word (though generally it's not the scientists saying these things, it's the public relations people).
Government scientists are paid by taxpayers, and are generally expected to represent the Canadian people, not the political party that is currently in power. I expect them to be reasonably neutral. If the PMO is vetting communications and making sure they match the ideology of the Conservative party, then we effectively lose that neutrality and it becomes a lot harder to trust what we hear from government scientists.