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Facts are also disappearing in the uproar over the end of home delivery at Canada Post. Opposition parties are seizing the opportunity to stand up for every little old lady who will have to now walk to the mailbox, but what about the millions of Canadian homes that have never received home delivery? Are their old ladies not important? Does the fact that mail volumes are rapidly declining not play into the equation at all?

The problem with facts is that very few are absolute, and many contradict each other. It is the job of politicians to consider policy goals, which sometimes ride against the flow of facts, when making decisions.

The Internet also confuses the line between fact and fiction, which has reared its ugly head most recently with the rise of the anti-vax movement. We also claim that our scientists are the guardians of facts, yet despite the fact a recent Pew Research study found that 88 per cent of them say GMO foods are perfectly safe, millions of Canadians share Facebook conspiracy theories every day about the latest Monsanto plot to take over the world. The same study found that 87 per cent of scientists are confident that climate change is man made. Are these the same scientists we don’t believe about GMOs, or is this a different group — one not part of an evil plot?

It’s easy to misunderstand what represents a fact. Pluto was a planet when I was a kid, then it wasn’t, now apparently it is again. Who knows? This doesn’t excuse the muzzling of scientists or validate any of the Conservatives’ own baffling decisions, however. Most economists still shake their heads over the GST cut as a it’s a terribly inefficient way to cut taxes, for example.