Canadian government hiding climate change reports

The Conservative government is developing a rather bad habit of quietly burying government reports about the impacts of climate change. Remember the huge “From Impacts to Adaptation” study put together last year by experts across Canada at the behest of Natural Resources Canada?

You don’t?

Oh right, there was no press release, and it was only made available published in a dark corner of the NRCAN web maze.

Now, the Globe and Mail has discovered that the federal government was planning a similarly “low-profile release” of Health Canada’s 500-page study on how climate change will affect the health of Canadians.

This government's actions are childish. And I say that literally. This is the political equivalent of a child stewing in the backseat throughout an unwanted trip then stubbornly refusing to get out when you arrive at the destination.

I'm offended more as a taxpayer than as a scientist. A lot of taxpayer dollars - via government salaries, consultant fees and research expenses - are used to create these reports. Now, I happen to think it is worth spending our tax dollars on these reports. Others may disagree. Either way, we all foot the bill, so we should be given amble opportunity to see what we've paid for.

Why even spend the money and time on doing this research if they are not going to be made available for the country to use for education and decision-making?