Category: Advocacy

Dear CSMB members

We would like to bring to your attention that the government is currently soliciting feedback in advance of Budget 2021 and invites all Canadians to fill out the following questionnaire.

https://letstalkbudget2021.ca/pre_budget_consultations

This consultation is open until February 19, 2021

We encourage you to provide your feedback, and particularly this question:

If you were designing the federal budget, what would you like to see in it to help create jobs and grow Canada’s economy? 

We encourage you to review the recent pre-budget CSMB submission and our recommendations, here is what CSMB recommends

That the Government implement all recommendations from the 2017 Fundamental Science Review, notably:

• • Recommendation 1: That the Government significantly increase investment in science and discovery research in line with the recommendations of the Report, by 25%.
  • Recommendation 2: That the Government increase investment in training of the next generation of scientists, over 4 years, to an additional $140M per year (increases at $35M per year).
  • Recommendation 3: That the Government increase its investment in the Research Support Fund, over 4 years, to an additional $478M to help institutions across Canada to support their researchers as effectively and efficiently as possible.
  • Recommendation 4: That the Government increase investments to support  investigator initiated fundamental research at CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC by increased investments into the granting councils.

Science has an important role to play in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the voice of scientists needs to be heard.

Please participate in these important consultations!

Dr. Imogen R. Coe

President of the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences

The recording of the CSPC panel from November 17 2020 is now available from the CSPC. Learn more on their website: https://sciencepolicy.ca/conference/cspc-2020/improving-linkages-between-science-policy/

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Watch the session Roles & Responsibilities of Academic Science Societies in informing Policy: Lessons & Observations from Around the World – November 17th at 8:30 via zoom, as part of the Canadian Science Policy Conference which takes place virtually this year.

Take a look at the whole program here: https://sciencepolicyconference.ca/program-2020-2/

Panel description and participants

In contrast to other parts of the world, science societies in Canada have traditionally had limited interaction with policy makers. There are few examples of an intentional mission by science societies or even perhaps a perceived need among scientists to engage with politicians, decision makers or policy influencers with the exception of, perhaps, the Royal Society of Canada, which has, to some degree, tried to provide academic input to the federal government on specific issues. + + + →

Read CSMB’s submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for Pre-Budget Consultations in advance of the 2021 budget:

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The CBC and the major magazine L’Actualité have both published articles quoting CSMB President Tarik Möröy, who appeared on a hearing on Canada’s response to COVID-19 at the House of Commons Standing committee on Health.

He told the House of Commons health committee last week that Canada is the only country that had a major national health research funding agency cancel its grants during the crisis.

He acknowledged that Canada was quick to mobilize funds for research related to COVID-19, but worries about the long-term impacts.

“We worry that this is at the expense of other health research that then will still be necessary after the pandemic is over,” Moroy told the committee.

Read

Scientists concerned focus on COVID-19 disrupting regular health research funds – on CBC.ca

Un financement compromis pour les recherches autres que celles sur la COVID-19 – on lactualite.com

CSMB President Tarik Möröy was pleased to speak on behalf of our members at a briefing on COVID-19 of the House of Commons Standing committee on health.

The meeting has been recorded and can be viewed on ParlVu here

Read Dr. Möröy’s speaking notes here: + + + →

CSMB executives Tarik Moroy, Imogen Coe, Paola Marignani, Katey Ryner and Vincent Archambault visited Senators, Members of Parliament and staff on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on February 24 and 25 to promote the full implementation of the recommendations of Canada’s Fundamental Science Review (Naylor report). It was an opportunity of our executives to talk about science policy, basic research and the importance of federal support of science.

MP Wayne Easter, Paola Marignani, Imogen Coe and Tarik Moroy

MP William Amos, with Imogen Coe, Paola Marignani and Vincent Archambault

Senator Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia, Katey Rayner and Tarik Moroy

Vincent Archambault, MP Earl Dreeshen and Imogen Coe in Ottawa

Senator Stan Kutcher with CSMB VP Imogen Coe

Meeting Health Canada, with Lhori Webster and Tahiya Bakht. CSMB executives: Tarik Moroy, Katey Rayner and Paola Marignani

By Tarik Möröy and Katalin Tóth — published in National Newswatch — Oct 25 2019

During Election 2019, the issue of poorly funded scientific research in Canada was not addressed by the major Parties and their leaders. Now, scientists across the country are concerned that they will not have the needed Federal support to make groundbreaking discoveries that move Canada and the world forward.

Investing in scientific research isn’t just important for scientists, it impacts the daily lives of all Canadians. From innovative treatments to cure diseases that affect millions of Canadians, to new technologies that can help us address the global climate crisis, scientific research is essential to confronting the issues that we face today and that our children will meet in the future. These investments are not simply expenses; they contribute significantly to the prosperity of our country, which gains from the work of highly-trained scientists, and the knowledge they generate, to drive today’s innovation-based economy. + + + →

Why are we voting science? Listen to Imogen Coe (CSMB VP), Farah Qaiser (at-large member of the CSMB trainee committee), Molly Shoichet, David Naylor & Amanda Veri give advice on how we can speak up for science in the upcoming federal election, on the rawtalk podcast.

Click here to listen:

https://www.rawtalkpodcast.com/episode/66

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Read an Op-Ed published this morning in LeDevoir newspaper, signed by CSMB President Tarik Moroy and the President of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience, Katalin Toth, explaining why science should be an election issue. Scientific research is important for all Canadians – it is how Canada can face the issues and challenges we face today. Political leaders should commit to supporting science today.
Read our op-ed here:
https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/564375/la-science-n-est-pas-un-enjeu-electoral-mais-elle-devrait-l-etre

The CSMB applauds the launch by Minister Kristy Duncan and Bill Morneau of the Dimensions pilot program, in an event at Ryerson University today.

The Dimensions pilot program is intended to publicly recognize post-secondary institutions seeking to increase equity, diversity and inclusion in their environments. The program objective is to foster transformational change within the research community at Canadian post-secondary institutions by identifying and eliminating obstacles and inequities in the research ecosystem to support equitable access to funding opportunities, embed EDI-related considerations in research design and practices, and increase equitable and inclusive participation.

Learn more about the Dimensions pilot program and view the list of participating institutions on the NSERC website:

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NSERC-CRSNG/EDI-EDI/Dimensions-Program_Programme-Dimensions_eng.asp

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We invite everyone to join the #VoteScience campaign, which aims to make science an electoral issue in the upcoming Canadian federal elections.

Visit the https://www.votescience.ca/ to see how you can make a difference today!

Also view our recent post on Advocating for research funding – Evidence for Democracy – CSMB collaboration