Parks Canada staff banned from criticizing Feds

[tuvor]

Source: CBC

Parks Canada employees across the country have received letters warning they're not allowed to criticize the agency or the federal government.

The directive comes as the agency cuts hundreds of jobs or curtails work hours.

"I am aware that during this time of significant transition, the concept of loyalty can have a very particular meaning. However, as employees of the public sector, our duty is to support the elected government," employees were told.

Workers are not supposed to speak about the cuts, whether at meetings, forums or through social media. Only designated people are allowed to deal with journalists.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/06/14/ns-parks-canada-letter-warning.html?cmp=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Posteritatis]

1. (string of obscenities)

This is just one note in a symphony of idiocy surrounding the government's treatment of Parks Canada, too.

Lovely, lovely time for me to be trying to break back into historical stuff professionally too. Thanks, Harper!

[glinda]

2. Are they setting the stage for logging, mining and fracking perhaps?

Is this why they do not want to attract attention to all of the cuts?

[elzenmahn]

3. ...and you better believe...

...that the Repubs are just licking their chops at trying to pull something like this at what remains of the state and federal employees if, when, and where they should take power. I can think of a few governors that might try it right now (namely Walker, Daniels, and Crispy Creme Christie).

I'm wondering just how legal this is...any experts in Canadian law out there?

[Posteritatis]

4. The basic issue with this one is that they push it rather too far

People in the civil service are expected to be (publicly, visibly) apolitical, which is part of working for the government generally here.

The difference here is that they're taking it a step further by saying Parks Canada employees - and, for context, the government's fired a third to half of them in the last month and is wiping out entire fields of study it sees as too "liberal" in the process - have a duty to actually support the government in this, that there's an obligation to defend a prime minister who is trying very hard to eliminate their entire sector of work.

There's always been some restrictions on members of the civil service here overall, but this is requiring them to take a specific political stance. That's a problem, even before considering that it's a stance in support of a government which refuses to support them.