Ottawa attempts to silence critics by targeting academics

By now, you might have heard about this letter signed by close to 500 Canadian academics criticizing the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) decision to audit the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)over its alleged political activism, accusing the CCPA of producing biased research.

• Academics' open letter calls for moratorium on political tax audits
• CRA audits CCPA think-tank due to alleged bias
• The Current: Politics drives 'political-activity audits' of think tanks, critics say

All that is hogwash, and the CRA knows it. There is, in my mind, little doubt the CRA is acting under direct instructions from the government.

I don't have any proof, of course, but if this audit truly was "fair and balanced,"then why target a left-leaning think tank, and none of the right-wing ones? This is a political witchhunt.

The Harperites want us to believe this is simply a coincidence, that the CRA operates at arm's length from the government and is completely independent.Well, I guess this could be true, except the Harperites have a nasty history of muzzling those who disagree with their policies: federal scientists and statisticians, some environmental non-profits, the suppression of data, and the list keeps growing.Karma's a bitch! Now add to that, economists and academics!

Real implications

You may be rolling your eyes or even laughing at the thought of a bunch of angry economists and academics, but this is causing more than a belly-ache for economists.The implications are very real.

Seven years after the beginning of the financial crisis, and where are we exactly? Many Canadians still can't find work, salary increases are almost non-existent, economic growth is at best anemic, and the differences between the rich and the poor are as bad (or worse) as ever.

We are quite possibly entering a period of long-term stagnation,with little to look forward to, and the possibility of anothercrisis some time down the road cannot be ruled out.If you don't have a job now, good luck in the future!

But recessions and near-depressions and all that they imply are all the result of economic policies, and bad ones at that.

The problem with the Harperites is that they don't understand the economy.They cling to some fantasy world where cutting back on government expenditures is somehow supposed to make things better.

But in reality, it doesn't: austerity never works.You don't have to take my word for it, there is plenty of empirical evidence to support this.

If government does not understand how the real world works, how can it be expected to implement sound economic policies? Well,it can't, and we all have to pay for the mess we live in.

Silenced?

This is where the CCPA comes in. Itsresearch is not biased, but it does ask different questions and certainly provides different answers. It points fingers in completely different directions, and at different groups responsible for this economic mess.

And this is precisely why the government wants to silence them.

You may not agree with the ideas the CCPA defends and the conclusions it reaches, but it should not be targeted simply because it disagrees with the government on economic policy.It should be allowed, in a healthy democracy, to explore all possible and legitimate areas of research, without interference from the government.In the best of worlds, the government should welcome and even encourage dissent.

In 1633, the Inquisition sentenced Galileo to imprisonment because the Church did not like his theory of heliocentrism. The idea that the Earth rotated around the sun was considered heresyand was in direct opposition to official Church doctrine.So Galileo was silenced.

No one is threatening anyone with imprisonment today, but four centuries later, academics are still being silenced for disagreeing with official doctrine.

Louis-Philippe Rochon is anassociate professor at Laurentian University and afounding co-editor of the Review of Keynesian Economics.