Sunday Morning Links

This and that to occupy your Canada Day.

- Tim Harford discusses why randomized trials as part of a genuine evidence-gathering process are a must in developing public policy.

- Mike de Souza reports that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans was already short on resources to do its job even before the Harper Cons decided to start hacking away at it. And Keith Ashfield is apparently nowhere to be found since he acknowledged that the Cons' plan is to facilitate pollution in Canadian water.

- Mark McCaw makes the case for peaceful protest against the Harper Cons. And it makes all the sense in the world to look at such a strategy against a government which thinks its only job in dealing with the public is to manage PR rather than to actually listen to citizens' concerns.

- Finally, both Gerald Caplan and Dr. Dawg see Canada Day as an opportunity to discuss the country we want - rather than settling for the deterioration the Cons are inflicting on us. Meanwhile, anybody in Regina looking for information on what's going on can stop by here.

Surprise, surprise

Oh, how quickly THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF PARLIAMENTARY TRADITION!!!one!! get thrown out the window when ministerial responsibility would involve being responsible for something:

New Brunswick Southwest Conservative MP Greg Thompson on Wednesday said it was a difficult decision to go public with his complaint that Fredericton Conservative MP Keith Ashfield is blocking federal investments in the province.

He also told The Daily Gleaner that he complained last week to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff about the situation.

"It is a tough call because it is one that we felt was happening but only when you see it in black and white do you know that it is happening," said Thompson. "It is not an easy thing to do.

"It is a story that shouldn't have to play out this way, to be perfectly honest with you."
...
The black and white Thompson referred to is an email from Ashfield's chief of staff, Fred Nott, who said a project in St. George should be delayed until after the Sept. 27 provincial election.

Ashfield has distanced himself from Nott's memo, saying it doesn't reflect the minister's position.

"Put everything on hold in that riding until there is a nominated federal candidate"

I'm not sure it's possible for the Cons to serve up a more brazen example of federal funding being misused for political purposes than this. But will two of the federal opposition parties be too busy defending government secrecy to give it the attention it deserves?