Good to know that somebody out there still cares about our national scientific integrity in general and our local community health in particular, even if it is only just a bunch of students ... The Canadian Federation of Students go to court today seeking to coerce the NSERC watchdogs into actually watching the 'research' that wound its way into our municipal tap water:

"In July 2006, the Federation filed an application for a judicial review of NSERC's decision regarding a complaint about an experiment conducted by University of Toronto researchers on the citizens of Wiarton, Ontario. The Federation argued that NSERC erred in interpreting its legal obligations when it dismissed the Federation's request for an investigation. A positive outcome from today's review would require NSERC to request that the University of Toronto investigate the Wiarton experiment complaints.

News releases and a journal article published by researchers involved in the Wiarton experiments omitted important information that contradicted a key finding and that was unfavourable for the researchers and the chemical company that helped sponsor the experiments.

"The nature of the alleged misconduct raises questions about the relationship between some university researchers and their corporate sponsors," said Regnier. "If research results were altered to satisfy the sponsors, it is a violation of the most sacred academic principles."
[ Federal Court Hears Case Against Science Granting Council ]