How can we continue to transform Canadian research? Look to the new generation
Earlier this fall, during one of the worst hurricane seasons on record, a group of graduate students was testing the resilience of roofs in full-force winds at Western University’s Insurance Research Lab for Better Homes. It’s unlikely they’d call themselves lifesavers, but their work will lead to better construction practices and building codes and they […]
New workplace abuse bill must define harassment, include remedies: critics, unions
For the government’s new workplace harassment bill to have the impact the Liberals have said is the goal, union leaders and party critics say they should amend the legislation to define harassment and address repercussions. Bill C-65, introduced on Nov. 7, will strengthen existing provisions in the Canada Labour Code on harassment and sexual harassment […]
Review of MP harassment code yields few suggestions for change
A committee report on the MP-to-MP code of conduct dealing with sexual harassment has been presented to the House of Commons, with minor amendments suggested to the two-year-old policy. Earlier this fall the Procedure and House Affairs Committee privately reviewed the new code as part of a mandatory process required within two years of its creation. Committee […]
Scientist advocacy ‘most active’ in years since Naylor report’s release, next budget ‘test’ of Ottawa’s commitment to fundamental research
Universities and research advocates have ramped up pressure on Ottawa to increase support for fundamental research in anticipation of 2018’s budget, with observers saying it’s the most active and loudest advocacy effort from the scientific community witnessed in years. The research community has been abuzz since the April release of the fundamental science review panel’s […]
University and College Research
Owens moves from Sajjan’s office to start new gig as communications director to Democratic Institutions Minister Gould
Jordan Owens has switched offices on the Hill, and has left her gig as press secretary to National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to take over as director of communications to Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould starting this week. Ms. Owens had been working as Mr. Sajjan’s press secretary since the beginning of 2016, and before […]
Bridging the gap: museums bring unique solutions to social struggles
Canada’s Indigenous and immigrant populations are growing at rates not seen in generations, as was revealed by the release of the 2016 census numbers by Statistics Canada in end of October. As Canada grows and matures as a country, museums can play a key role in making peace with our past and plotting a brighter […]
Supreme Court sides with federal lawyers to end unpaid mandatory on-call duty
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of federal immigration lawyers on Nov. 3, saying the mandatory unpaid on-call duty Justice Canada imposed on them violated their collective agreement. Ending a seven-year court battle, the Supreme Court ruled in part for the Association of Justice Counsel, a union that represents about 2,600 federal lawyers. […]
‘Highly problematic’ court decision could affect union access to workplaces: PSAC
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is considering taking a case to the Supreme Court, after what it calls a “highly problematic” ruling by a lower court that will threaten union access to workplaces and have “far-reaching” consequences for unions across the country. In October, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed a 2016 decision by the […]
The future is interdisciplinary
In the past 20 years, interdisciplinary research—studies involving researchers from multiple academic disciplines—has gone from ‘nice to have’ to ‘need to have.’ Today, given the complexity of social, political, environmental, economic and technological challenges facing the world, it is very quickly becoming something no country can do without. Canada has the skills, talent and capacity […]
