To Push Prisons, Harper Buried Own Government's Findings - 2011-04-29

To Push Prisons, Harper Buried Own Government's Findings April 29, 2011, Lawrence Martin, The Tyee

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Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada's justice department, which had about 200 researchers in its policy branch, produced sophisticated studies that, as per the normal run of things in any department, were supposed to be used to inform policy decisions.

But a funny thing happened at justice. The researchers might just as well have gone on holiday.

The work they did went directly to nowhere because it either didn't conform with or directly contradicted the biases of the governing party. "We still produced a lot of stuff," said a former employee. "It just never saw the light of day." When a government starts suppressing its own research time and time again -- research the public is paying for -- it's serious business, he said. Some senior players in the department were bitter and frustrated, but they didn't dare raise their voices. They had their careers to look after, so they tolerated the censorship.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | first = Lawrence | last = Martin | title = To Push Prisons, Harper Buried Own Government's Findings | url = https://thetyee.ca/News/2011/04/29/HarperPushesPrisons/ | work = The Tyee | date = April 29, 2011 | accessdate = August 7, 2019 }}