2015 Federal Election Questionnaire sent to the Liberal Party, Conservative Party, NDP, and Green Party

As part of its federal election activities, the CCR has sent a questionnaire to the Liberal Party, Conservative Party, Green Party, and NDP. We have received responses from each of the parties except for the Conservatives.

All responses to the questionnaire were posted on this site on October 9th.

CCR Budget Response, April 2015

News Release:

Budget 2015: Some important new investments, but missed opportunities for discovery-driven research

(Ottawa, Ontario) April 22, 2015 — Although the Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR) acknowledges the new research funding announced yesterday, Budget 2015 missed key opportunities when it comes to funding for discovery research and graduate students.

The CCR pre-budget submission recommended increased investments in the tri-council basic research discovery funding programs, support for students through graduate scholarships and internships, and support for Canada’s knowledge infrastructure.

The budget announced a total of $10 million in new funding in support of research and innovation activities for 2015 that includes digital research infrastructure support for CANARIE, funding for TRIUMF, and industry-research partnerships through the National Research Council.  It also included a number of promises of funding to start in future years, such as: funding targeted mainly for industry-research partnerships through the tri-councils (2016-2017); support for Mitacs (2016-2017); and new investments in CFI (2017-2018).

While we acknowledge and welcome the importance of the announced funding, the absence of either immediate or promised increases to discovery research funding through the NSERC Discovery Grants, SSHRC Insight Grants, and CIHR Operating Grants is of primary concern to the CCR.  As noted above, the promised future increased funding is, once again, allocated to tri-council targeted programs.

“Industry-partnered research is important to answer questions of an immediate or targeted nature.  However, science advances and innovations happen when researchers are supported in discovery –research that isn’t driven by specific industry needs or interests,” says Canadian Consortium for Research Chair, Dr. Lisa Votta-Bleeker.

“While the increase to Mitacs is welcome, the CCR is disappointed that there is no new funding for graduate scholarships and internships.  An opportunity to address the needs of students and support the next generation of researchers was, unfortunately, missed,” added Dr. Votta-Bleeker.

The CCR will continue to advocate for funding for discovery-based research, graduate student funding and for support for knowledge infrastructure such as Statistics Canada and Library Archives Canada.

The CCR is the largest advocacy coalition in Canada, focusing on research funding in all disciplines and support for post-secondary education. CCR includes 19 organizations that represent more than 50,000 researchers and 500,000 students across disciplines.

For more information:
Dr. Lisa Votta-Bleeker
Chair, Canadian Consortium for Research
executiveoffice@cpa.ca or 613-237-2144 ext. 323

CCR_BudgetResponses_April2015_Final.pdf

 

A message from the three federal research agencies – the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), or “the Agencies”

The Presidents of the Agencies are pleased to announce the release of TCPS 2 (2014) – the revised version of the 2nd edition of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2). TCPS 2 (2014) replaces TCPS 2 (2010) as the official human research ethics policy of the Agencies.

Survey on Bill to Reinstate the Longform Census; Bill to create a Parliamentary Science Officer

MP. Kennedy Stewart (Science and Technology Critic, NDP) is putting forth a Bill for the creation of an independent Parliamentary Science Officer – please see his website for more information (http://kennedystewart.ndp.ca/science) and/or to sign his national petition.  MP Hsu (Science and Technology Critic, Liberals) is putting forth a Bill (C626) to reinstate the long-form Census – please see his website for more information (http://www.tedhsu.ca/C626/) and/or to write a letter of support endorsing the Bill.  With regards to this Bill, Mr. Hsu asked for our assistance in compiling information from the research community regarding the impacts of the discontinuation of the long-form census on one’s research and/or work.  To this end, we have created a brief survey specific to the discontinuation of the Census and other Statistics Canada surveys.  Please take a moment and complete the survey by mid-January so that we can pass this information on to Mr. Hsu when he takes Bill C626 to second reading in January.  Alternatively or in addition, please email me (lvottableeker@cpa.ca) or post something on your website, blog, and send me or Mr. Hsu the link.

The CCR hosts its 3rd annual Breakfast with the Funders

On Wednesday December 3rd, the CCR hosted its 3rd annual breakfast with the funders.  The breakfast, which was hosted at the offices of the Canadian Psychological Association, included the following representatives:
 
Funding Agency
Representative
NSERC
Dr. Pierre Charest
CFI
Mr. Pierre Normand
SSHRC
Dr. Ted Hewitt
CIHR
Dr. Jane Aubin
Mitacs
Dr. Rob Annan