Last week, Julie Payette told a science conference in Ottawa, "We are still debating and still questioning whether life was a divine intervention or whether it was coming out of a natural process let alone, my goodness, a random process." Justin Trudeau signalled his support for what the Governor General said.
Andrew Sheer was appalled. "It is extremely disappointing that the prime minister will not support Indigenous peoples, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Christians and other faith groups who believe there is truth in their religion."
Sheer has a short memory -- perhaps a willfully short one. Michael Harris writes:
As I recall, it was Scheer’s party that was so “supportive” of Muslims that it wanted to ban the niqab. The Conservatives ended up creating an environment so toxic across the country that Muslim women in religious dress were assaulted in Canadian cities.
Scheer is simply continuing the Harperian war on science:
Scheer’s cynical attack on the prime minister is nothing more than the continuation of the CPC’s war on science — and any other independent source of information that gets in the way of this sad, angry organization driven by ideology straight out of the Republican Tea Party.
It was not by accident that Stephen Harper did away with the national science advisor. Or shuttered the Experimental Lakes area. Or muzzled scientists about their work. There was method to his suppression. Facts have a way of debunking dogma, and neoconservative dogma is what Harper and his government stood for.
The Conservatives have a new leader and a new face. But it's still the Harper Party. And, for them, every day is Ground Hog Day. They haven't learned a thing.
Image: blog.eogn.com
