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"Things aren't looking very good for government science right now in Canada."Depending on how everything goes down on October 19, federal science may get a reviving shot that Conservative critics say it desperately needs as all of the other three major parties (yes, I'm counting the Greens) have promised to restore what science-based federal agencies have been losing under Harper.Muzzled scientists have made the catchiest headlines, but it's hardly the only problem. Budget cuts (Environment Canada's lost hundreds of millions alone), staff sackings (we've lost more than 2,000 federal scientists in the past five years), the elimination of the long-form census, and libraries getting tossed are also among the Tory decisions heavily criticized by the larger scientific community.The Conservative Party would not respond to a request for comment for this article, but in a debate on CBC radio program Quirks and Quarks, Conservative candidate for Cambridge and former minister of state for science and technology Gary Goodyear defended his party's record."This government has a 'seizing Canada's moment' strategy. We have put more funding into scientific research, innovation, and ultimately moving that knowledge discovery into commercialization, more funding than ever in the history of this country," Goodyear said.Read more: Canadian Scientists Are Rallying Against the Government's War on Science
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