I hang my head in shame.

Ugh, it's gone from bad to worse. Our American neighbours have hung their heads in shame for eight long years because a monkey ran the oval office. Now I'm afraid, Canadians, it might be our turn.

When asked about his belief on evolution in an interview on Monday with The Globe and Mail, federal Minister of State for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear said this,

"I'm not going to answer that question. I am a Christian, and I don't think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate.”

What's disturbing about this comment is not the fact that Goodyear is a Christian but that he has equated evolution as a religious system.

Later Goodyear proclaimed he did believe in evolution but said this in an interview with CTV,

“We are evolving every year, every decade. That's a fact, whether it is to the intensity of the sun, whether it is to, as a chiropractor, walking on cement versus anything else, whether it is running shoes or high heels, of course we are evolving to our environment. But that's not relevant and that is why I refused to answer the question. The interview was about our science and tech strategy, which is strong.”

Huh, that's a new one. In all my years of teaching biology no undergraduate has ever been that creative (and I use that term intentionally) and defined evolution as walking on cement either in running shoes or high heels.

Goodyear has admitted to nothing because he has simply changed the definition of evolution.

I guess all those biology textbooks are wrong. Or Gary if you have forgotten what a book is, it is also described on wikipedia as,

a change in the inherited traits of a populaton of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection.

You know, I kind of expect ridiculous statements and sly doublespeak from the Harper cronies, but not from the Liberals. Liberal science critic Marc Garneau (former astronaut) said in an interview on Tuesday that believing in evolution is not a job requirement for the science minister.

“It is a personal matter. It is a matter of faith.… I don't think it prevents someone from being a good minister.”

Sure that's the point Marc, science and faith are different things. Evolution is scientific fact and well faith is NOT science. Furthermore, it is of grave concern that a Minister who has influence on government funding, holds the view that evolution is equivalent to a religion.

Here I thought that evolution was taught in first year biology at universities across Canada. Something is rotten in the science programmes in Canada, if an astronaut and a chiropractor can't make the distinction between religion and evolution.

We, Canadians are on the verge of a dark age where science and education are no longer about the acquisition of knowledge and understanding of the natural world. Science fosters individualism and promotes biological development, all of which stand in opposition to the Stephen Harper ideology.

Instead, according to Harper, science and education are mere tools to help fill our wallets. It's no coincidence that in the recent budget, $750-million was invested in the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, while at the same time basic research suffered massive cutbacks. As Stephen Harper says,

“In the world of today, scientific and technological innovation is fundamental to economic and social progress....No country can hope to remain prosperous and healthy without reinvesting a substantial portion of its wealth in science and technology.”

Fascism of the pocketbook is still fascism.

I'm not sure if hanging our collective heads in shame is the appropriate response because that implies resignation. Instead, let us take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them.