Earlier this year, Genome Canada had its funding yanked, to the dismay of the Canadian and international scientific communities.  On the day of the announcement, the Genome Canada president agonized:

“We got nothing, nothing, and we don’t know why.  We’re devastated.”

Then, a day later, the Genome Canada website has a message from its Board of Directors reading,

“Genome Canada is pleased with the federal government’s 2009 budget in which millions will be invested in research infrastructure over the next two years.”

This week, Researcher Forum has a comparison of NSERC’s statements to its applicants before and after a series of budget cuts.  Before the cuts, the NSERC admits to a tight budget, with competition for funds getting tighter year to year.  After the cuts, the NSERC crows about how all the major core programs were protected.

It would seem that the current administration is getting pretty good at keeping its departments on-message as it wields the knife.