Motor Control Lab

[ Protect Science Funding in Canada ]

The purpose of this Facebook Group is to facilitate advocacy for protecting science funding in Canada.

The Canadian government’s recently announced budget (January 2009) demonstrates that they do not grasp the importance of scientific research. The three national research granting councils (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC), which play a vital role in funding the scientists and their trainees who conduct research in our universities and hospitals, will experience budget cuts over the next three years.

Paradoxically, the government is investing in infrastructure but is simultaneously handicapping any new initiatives by choosing not to support the equally important investment in people and operating costs.

It does not make sense to put billions of dollars into the appearance of research, and then cut millions from the fundamentals. This will temporarily employ people to build bricks, instead of building the long-term knowledge and skills required for a healthy and prosperous future.

In a time when the US is injecting major new funds into science and technology, when Canada is now in a leadership position in many major initiatives following a reversal of the “brain drain”, and when the future of the economy after the current challenges will clearly be based in large part on scientific advances, the government have decided to cut off the development of new research and to exert increased control on the science that does receive funding. This administration is a disaster for Canadian science, and for all elements of society affected by science, from the economy to citizens’ health.

Join the group and spread the word.