Canada’s research capacity in the North lags other countries
The changing Arctic is a new frontier of scientific discovery, industrial development, and socio-economic innovation. From China’s plan for a Polar Silk Road to Norway’s Nansen Legacy program on the Barents Sea and adjacent Arctic basin; from Russia’s intense extraction of its Arctic resources to Canada’s reconciliation with its Indigenous people; from the building worldwide […]
We must go from Inuit exclusion to self-determination in research
Inuit are one of the most researched peoples in the world. We are also one of the fastest-growing populations, yet the number of peer-reviewed publications and dissertations that focus on Inuit and Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland, has outpaced the rate of our population growth by a wide margin. In 1996 there was one publication […]
Time for action on neglected Naylor report advice
OTTAWA—As the Trudeau government gears up for the coming election year, recommendations from the 2017 expert panel on Canada’s Fundamental Science Review, chaired by former University of Toronto president David Naylor and commissioned by the federal science minister, are coming to the fore. In the past few weeks, federal ministers have fanned out across the […]
Support innovation in remote regions to build on Canada’s strengths
Since 2016, the government has taken essential and reassuring steps that demonstrate its commitment to transforming Canada into an innovative society. By unmuzzling federal scientists and establishing the chief science adviser of Canada’s office, the government sent a clear signal: science must be a pillar of federal government decision-making. The 2018 budget subsequently implemented the […]
With science funding restored, universities and colleges push for more student support in 2019 budget
Building on unprecedented investments for science in the 2018 budget, universities and colleges are pressing the Liberals ahead of the 2019 budget for new funding to cover the “least sexy” costs of research, as well as dramatically expanding the number of students in work placements. More than two-dozen individual universities and colleges, as well as […]
Large gaps, questions remain in federal support for research
For many years, Canadian researchers have seen a gradual, but significant decline, in funding from the federal government. For example, from 2013 to 2015, Canada’s average investment in research was 1.6 per cent of GDP, compared to a G7 average of 2.3 per cent. The 2017 Naylor Report found that Canada is falling behind on […]
Duncan says federal government is looking at new ways to support Canadian researchers abroad
Science Minister Kirsty Duncan says the federal government is “looking now at new ways to support international mobility for our researchers, calling the issue of student international mobility a “big priority” as recent statistics show that Canada has fewer students studying abroad compared to European countries. In an email Q&A with The Hill Times this week, the veteran MP representing […]
First Man and the power of perspective
There’s a moment in the new Damien Chazelle film First Man when what happens in the theatre is nearly as interesting as what’s unfolding on screen. The movie is about Neil Armstrong being the first man to set foot on the moon. The key scene is that actual point of contact—Ryan Gosling as Armstrong gingerly making […]
Federal support strong for college-driven research solving the problems of tomorrow
I am so proud to be a member of a government that has placed science front and centre. Since day one, we have made investments to support both the fundamental research that drives new discoveries and the applied research that addresses tangible business and social challenges and promotes the commercialization of ideas. Colleges, in particular, […]
Let’s not fear the unknown
When I was young, my next-door neighbour’s dad was an inventor and I thought that was simply sublime—mostly because he bought a swimming pool with the profits from a patent. On hot summer days, I used to tug on my braids and imagine gadgets that might possibly meet with similar success in order to bring […]
