Today's news (and blogging frenzie) about the conservative government trying to "muzzle" librarians reminded me of something Luker said earlier in her book. She calls librarians the "pit bulls of democracy - as our government increasingly tries to hide things from us, librarians are among the few sounds fighting back" (Luker, 85). Today, more than ever, I can't help but see the truth in this statement.
As librarians, and more generally as information professionals, we need to take government cut-backs and the decisions made by LAC director, Daniel Caron (a non librarians/archivist!!) seriously to advocate for our right to disseminate information to the public and stand-up for our profession.
Ra Ra Ra!!!
Check out these links:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/15/library-and-archives-canada/
http://boingboing.net/2013/03/19/canadian-government-muzzles-li.html
I completely agree with you Jacqueline, I really think we need to stand up and fight for our profession and Canada! I do not understand how this sort of censorship and blatant violation of the charter of rights and freedoms can even be considered in a democratic government! It is beyond infuriating. It is just a reminder that the Canadian people need to start participating more in politics and pay close attention to their leaders, or else corruption ensues!
ReplyDeleteHere is another interesting link:
http://www.operationmaple.com/fyi/big-brother-is-watching
I agree. However, just take a quick look at our prime minister and mayor of Toronto to see how far removed our citizens are from politics (someone voted for them). We are now so far removed from the Nation Pierre Trudeau envisioned. He saw the potential of Canada at its best and while he could not foresee (or prevent) the global economic recessions he prepared Canada to be independent (brought constitution home),"tried" to bring peace to the French and English speaking citizens (bilingual act) and created industries to build the economy and use Canadian resources (Petro Canada). Since then many of our leaders have worked to unravel these efforts...GST, Free Trade agreement, the disowning of the Kyoto Protocol, passing of Bill C-10 and now muzzling librarians and archivists at the LAC. This is simply not the Canada we can be. More active participation from ALL Canadians is needed. But with this demand comes the need to disseminate information, educate citizens about online information literacy, increase resources, create communities...oh wait, this sounds a lot like what librarians do. As the magic 8 ball sometimes says, "Outlook not so good".
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