Canadian researchers push to make science a federal election issue
University of Ottawa Biology professor Jules Blais was recently featured in a CBC article discussing the need to protect independent scientific research in Canada. This is just one of many ways in which academics and other organizations are promoting the importance of science to Canadian discovery and innovation, and the need to continue to support both basic and applied research.
As Blais notes in the CBC article:
“Science has always been apolitical by its nature, but in recent years because of the dramatic changes that we’re seeing in the way science is being done, and science is being conducted, it’s increasingly a political issue.”
For more information and to get involved, see some of the following sources:
- Evidence for Democracy, a science advocacy group created by Dr. Katie Gibbs, published an editorial in the Toronto Star on the need to include science in this election campaign.
- York University science librarian John Dupuis has been collating all mentions of science and technology during the 2015 election campaign (by any party) on his blog.
- Science Borealis, Canada’s science blog aggregator, suggested that Canadians organize science-focused debates in their ridings and invite local candidates.
- A science and technology debate will be held at the University of Victoria on 23 September at 7pm, with guest moderator Bob McDonald from CBC’s Quirks & Quarks.
- Get Science Right, an initiative of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), is hosting town hall meetings about Canadian science policy at campuses across Canada this September.