A Canadian scientist got together with some friends and recorded a song critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper ahead of this fall’s election.
He has now been suspended from his position with Environment Canada.
Because the best way to refute someone singing “Who squashes all dissent? Harperman!” is to punish the person singing.
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Yes that is getting some fine Streisand effect. Some political scientist types are saying the scientist was out of line, I think they are wrong as there was no way to identify the dude as a public servant unless you knew him personally,
but even the political scientists that for some reason believe the oath taken forbids this fellow’s actions are quick to say that the government was dumb to try and do anything about it.
This is some pretty high-class bullshit. If he was recording the song using resources provided by his job, during regular office hours, that’s possibly a conflict of interest. Civil servants can’t lobby for a particular government while they’re on the clock since they have to be impartial. If he recorded it on his own time with his own equipment then it’s just comment. Or, should all civil servants be forbidden from voting and holding a political opinion?
What if they were hoping it would go viral for sacking the guy since they had no real way of getting the message out at what Harper’s up to in a way people elsewhere wuld actually care about?
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