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dam-l DFO's muzzling mechanism

I don't know if anyone here has seen my article concerning
DFO's muzzling of scientists and DFO bureaucrats Scott Parson's
and Bill Doubleday's threats to sue both the Ottawa Citizen
and Killam Chair scientists Ransome Myers over publishing
information on the muzzling.  it is linked to the DRIIA webpage.

http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/dams

and point to the item entitled
Muzzled Scientists...

There is a link near the end to the final Citizen articloe in the set
by Charles Enman.

Today,  the Citizen published the following article on
DFO's disciplinary manual.  I am forwarding it for private use 
to dam-l members.

It certainly explains why we at DRWG had such dificulty getting
anyone from DFO's Central and Arctic region to talk to
the public and MP's several years ago here in Ottawa about 
their research reported in the Can. J. Fish Aquatic Science Vol 41, 
1984 [!]

Parsons and Doubleday are paid unelected Canadian civil servants.  With one
hell of a lot of hubris and nerve.  

In my opinion they deserve to be fired and their pensions revoked and 
placed into a fund to restore the salmon and cod fisheries and to 
compensate all the fishermen who are now out of work.  Never mind the 
scientists who've been forced into early retirtement by their draconian 
Big Brother policies.

I keep getting visions of class actions suits.  I think I even
know which act they may be liable under and it very well could be actionable.
;-]

They sure don't deserve the trust of the Canadian public and fishermen.

I mean - is it any wonder we have a fish war goimg down with the States 
with these kind of bellicose incokpetant pompous control freaks and 
policeman wannabes in a position of responsibility and power?  They don't 
deserve their jobs. Period.

Maybe we'll get a discussion outta this? :)

-Dianne

Forwarded message:
From dianne@lox.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca Wed Aug  6 12:47:39 1997
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 1997 12:46:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Dianne Murray <dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>
Message-Id: <199708061646.MAA12497@lox.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>
X-URL: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/national/970806/1041213.html
To: dianne@sandelman.ocunix.on.ca
Subject: 1041213.html


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                          Wednesday 6 August 1997
                                      
          Criticizing ministry as bad as mutiny, Fisheries rules warn
                                       
Discipline guide lists infractions, punishments

   Alison Uncles
   The Ottawa Citizen
   
   Staff at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans who publicly criticize
   their employer are guilty of an offence as serious as fraud, fighting,
   and even mutiny, according to a departmental discipline guide.
   
   The manual prepared by the Staff Relations, Pay and Benefits Division
   of the Personnel Directorate puts "public criticism" in a group with
   the most serious types of infraction.
   
   Also included in the "most" category are: desertion, conflict of
   interest, drunkenness, being under the influence of drugs, and
   "impeding the progress of a voyage or navigation of a ship."
   
   "The lists are not exhaustive," the document says. "They in no way
   limit the Department's right to discipline."
   
   The guide's cover says it was published under the authority of the
   deputy minister, and came into force on June 21, 1982.
   
   Reached late last night, a DFO spokewoman declined to comment until
   the department had had an opportunity to review the document.
   
   "It is 15 years old, so we need some time to find it and review it,"
   said Bonnie Mewdell.
   
   The guide lists a range of infractions -- from being late in reporting
   for an assignment, to patterns of absenteeism, sleeping on duty,
   damaging departmental property and falsifying a departmental record.
   Punishments range from oral reprimands and one-day suspensions to
   10-day suspensions, and finally, discharge.
   
   The guide ranks several infractions as "group 4" -- the most serious
   category. Among these is listed "public criticism of the employer."
   
   The guide comes to light after a critical article was published
   recently in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
   
   The article suggests that bureaucratic and political decisions that
   made poor use of scientific findings had disastrous effects on
   populations of Atlantic cod and Pacific salmon. It concluded that "the
   existing framework of government-sponsored fisheries science needs to
   be replaced."
   
   The authors were leading biologists Jeffrey Hutchings, Carl Walters,
   and Richard Haedrich -- and although they are not DFO employees, the
   article sparked widespread criticism of the department from
   independent scientists across the nation.
   
   Last month, the DFO held closed-door meetings in Nova Scotia where
   scientists were able to give their views of the article.
   
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