Feds should fund indigenous environmental guardians network
OTTAWA—When it comes to protecting the land, water, flora, and fauna around mining operations, companies use a wide range of tools, technologies, and expertise. Increasingly, that expertise comes in the form of traditional knowledge from local indigenous communities. But innovative solutions are needed to enable communities to contribute on a larger scale. What we’re talking […]
Merit Canada lobbying to maintain secret ballot requirement for union certification: Sen. Runciman
Merit Canada, a group representing non-unionized construction companies, has been lobbying Senators recently about reversing a Liberal government initiative to repeal a law requiring secret ballots for the certification and decertification of unions in federally regulated workplaces, according to one Senator who met with a representative for the organization. The target of Merit Canada is […]
Poverty is not inevitable
Poverty in Canada is a complex reality. Social policy experts, researchers, and anti-poverty advocates are continually analyzing the data and recommending the most effective policy responses, while working to engage and strengthen communities. We see the hardship suffered by millions of Canadians struggling to get by, but we also see positive policy impacts. So, for […]
Canada must do more to boost innovation
There has been much discussion and activity around the topic of innovation. Everyone recognizes the need to create an environment in Canada that fosters innovation, and that supports the development of innovative ideas through to commercialization. The excellence of Canadian research happening at the universities and colleges across the country is well-respected in the world. […]
The rise of the knowledge disruptors
“As we develop science policy we need to look beyond the short-term context, beyond the research that looks immediately promising. If we’re blinded by the urgency of our problems, we will go the wrong way. We’ll be investing in horses, carriages, and cleaning up the streets instead of fostering the research that can give rise […]
Building on one of our greatest natural resources
We often hear that Canada is rich in natural resources, but forget that one of our greatest resources is our highly educated population. In today’s global economy, education, research, and innovation play critical roles in the balance sheet of all nations. Canada has a proud history of discovery, invention, and innovation—insulin, canola, and the BlackBerry […]
Universities call for more financial support for research, while colleges eye bigger share of funding
Advocates for Canadian post-secondary institutions are calling on the federal government to improve on the expanded investments in research seen in Budget 2016 to ensure the country can keep pace with surging global competitors. In what backers are calling the biggest increase in a decade, the Liberal government earmarked an additional $95-million this year to the Canadian granting councils, […]
Science minister sees funding gaps for young researchers, multidisciplinary and multinational research
Young researchers are starved for grants in Canada, which can make their work “impossible,” says Science Minister Kirsty Duncan. That’s one of the challenges she’s heard from scientists during her first year as minister, she said in a Nov. 10 interview after giving a speech at the Canadian Science Policy Conference in Ottawa. She also […]
University and College Research
We need a return to funding basic research
It was in the spring 2012 budget that the previous Conservative government established the primacy of utilitarian, mercantile science over basic research and pure intellectual inquiry. The budget decreed that federal funds would go to research that was “business-led [and] industry-relevant.” The significant deficit in industry investment in research and development affects our economy. We […]
