| Sign Petition Near Bottom Of This Post To Support Him
News from Avaaz, an online global citizen activist network
September 1st, 2015 – Environment Canada scientist Tony Turner wrote a political protest song about Stephen Harper – and now he’s been put on leave and is being investigated by the government!
 Environment Canada scientist Tony Turner on forced leave for singing it like it is about Harper They want to silence free speech and stop the song, “Harperman”, from reaching a bigger audience…but it’s about to backfire big time. Because if everyone receiving this email watches the video after signing at the link below, it will be seen by 3% of Canada – if we all share it with just one other person, 6% of Canada, and so on.
Let’s make this viral and timely video a political nightmare for a government trying to silence critics. Click now and help make this huge by signing a petition demanding Tony be reinstated immediately – then watch the video and help “Harperman” take-off across the country by sharing on Facebook, and everywhere else:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/harperman_loc/?bRUUpdb&v=64168
Tony Turner is a popular folk singer, and also a scientist at Environment Canada. When a recording of his “Harperman” political protest song — calling on the country to get rid of the Harper government – was posted on Youtube, he was suspended and put under investigation.
Environment Canada says that all employees agree to comply with a value and ethics code that lays out expected behaviour – but the Supreme Court has said that public service workers have a right to free expression — just like the rest of us.
Our government has consistently muzzled scientists and public servants whose opinions or research could threaten their policies. And we’ve seen how it views protest, passing Bill C-51 that labels environmental activists as “security threats”.
Fortunately, they can’t silence the internet. Click now to stand with Tony and watch the video – and to share it around the country:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/harperman_loc/?bRUUpdb&v=64168
It’s our right to protest, and we shouldn’t be punished for it. Let’s turn this story and “Harperman” into a political nightmare (for Canada’s Harper government)as election season comes into full swing.
If you could not access a youtube performance of the Harperman song in the links above try clicking on this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei50lM6ab1c
With hope,
Danny, Ari, Emma, Ricken and the Avaaz team
SOURCES
Public servant being investigated for writing and performing anti-Tory ‘Harperman’ song (National Post)
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/public-servant-being-investigated-for-wri…
Federal scientist put on leave over Harperman protest song (CBC)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harperman-tony-turner-scientist-investigation-1.3207390 |
Niagara At Large 
Ah, are we surprised? Another Harper Government attempt to shut down freedom of speech. Beware the person who buy ink by the barrel (especially when using your money!!).
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A brief comment from Doug Draper – Yes I know from my brief experience working as an employee in the public sector. You are not supposed to express, for public circulatin, any editorial or partisan views while holding the job.
But your heart has to go out to this Environment Canada who, along with his present and former colleagues,h as seen the resources of this once world-calss federal environment department butchered by this Harper government and its scientists muzzled
Its enough to make you sing – ‘Harper be gone!’
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If the song (heaven forbid) supported Stephen would Turner have been suspended?
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The lyrics spoke of truth, reality and the evil that has invaded our lives and urges us to exercise our Civil Rights by “EXORCISING” this dictatorship at the poles on October19th. That this scientist, folk singer and his many friends had the balls to enact a vocal repartee to give a some what humorous yet truthful condemnation of lies, half truths, malfeasance and the Government’s complete disregard for the charter of rights, the Charter that assures citizens the right to an opinion and the right to opposes when they feel wronged.
Bill C51 gives HARPER the tools to arrest and imprison anyone who dares oppose his dictates and he has his own little police force to do his dirty work for him. HARPER appointed the RCMP Commissioner and in the eyes of many that seems to put the force in the employ of HARPER….I was disgusted by the actions of the Police during HARPER’S SHOWBOATING G20 and I find it very difficult to trust them EVER ……… (Seems Like Popa Doc once in Haiti who once had his private police called the Ton Ton)
Thank you sir for Singing out and I can assure you there are many Conservatives that hate your efforts…But not the sane minded Canadians who believe in Freedom and love Canada.
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The news about Tony Turner’s suspension, along with his song, was trending on Twitter….which means that, if the government’s idea was to shut him down, their action has had the opposite effect. Which makes one wonder what they were really trying to do…scare the rest of us into silence? Well, it’s not working, is it?
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It seems the days of…
“1- 2- 3 what are we fighting for,
don’t ask me I don’t give a damn,
next stop is Vietnam”
are long gone. The protest song era has died along with free speech.
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My verdict, as a layman rather than as a lawyer, is that in law Tony Turner wins and Mr Harper loses. I argue this verdict as follows: The central question is whether Tony Turner is in breach of his Public Service conditions of employment. The central document on the question is http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/plac-acpl/guidance-direction-eng.htm (also retrievable from Google by entering the 13-word search string -> public service commission of canada guidance document for participating in non-candidacy political activities <- ). This document communicates and comments on the relevant provision in the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA). The just-cited document, and the PSEA underlying it, allow a public servant at Tony Turner's level to engage in political activity subject to the following restriction (as written into PSEA): "so long as it does not impair, or is not perceived as impairing, the employee's ability to perform his or her duties in a politically impartial manner". Mr Turner's duties do not appear to involve dealing face-to-face with the public, but rather to involve backroom climatological or meteorological analysis, currently with some emphasis on wildlife habitat. If the appearance is correct, then his analytical work would be impaired only by such irrelevant counterfactual hypothetical factors as his misplacing his papers, his wrecking his computer, or his drinking alcohol at his desk. An after-hours public musical performance, of whatever political colouring, cannot impair the backroom analytical work which he has contracted to perform in the Public Service.
I have looked through the quotes from regulations-of-Public-Service authorities cited in the Globe and Mail, National Post, and Ottawa Citizen, to see if I can find some legal argument backing Mr Harper AGAINST Mr Turner, the just-cited document and PSEA notwithstanding. Here I find a little bit of (polite) rhetoric, but nothing that overturns the just-quoted PSEA clause.
Mr Harper, you lose, sorry.
M Harper, je regrette bien, mais vous avez perdu.
PS: The higher the profile Candians now confer on this case, the better, since at stake is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms Sect. 2 provision for free speech. (These are provisions in which I acquired experience in 2014, defending myself for a total cost of about $42,000 (legal fees, and also settlement-imposed charitable donation) against pro-development municipal councillor Karen Cilevitz in the matter of the David Dunlap Observatory (DDO). Full details on the defence, which involved out-of-court negotiations handled for me by Blake Cassels Graydon LLP, are at http://www.karen-vs-toomas-blog.ca/ and http://www.karen-vs-toomas-legaldocs.ca/. Reflecting on the 2014 municipal free-speech affair, I now feel that at any level – whether municipal, provincial, or federal – our free-speech rights are in danger of decaying unless we do everything in our power, whether outside the courtroom or inside the courtroom, to defend them.)
PPS: We should see if we can do some GTA performances of Tony Turner's wonderful Harperman song, both for a live audience and for YouTube. Can someone perhaps recruit local guitarist-and-folksinger Tom Smarda, who was so helpful in DDO forest-conservation work this past winter? We could then assemble a small Saturday-afternoon choir at some point this month. I'd go tenor. I think I know an exceptionally strong baritone or bass-baritone or bass, from the ranks of the DDO urban-forest conservationists, and I THINK his wife will be a strong soprano. If we can get five additional people, that's good. If we can get twenty additional people, that's very good. A hundred people, or two hundred — better yet! 🙂 For volunteering, e-mail Toomas dot Karmo at gmail dot com, or phone 647 267 9566.
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