OTTAWA—The Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR) wants to know what federal party leaders have in store for research if they form Canada’s next government. A consortium of 18 organizations representing the full spectrum of science, the CCR distributed five questions to each of the federal party leaders to seek clarification on their plans for research in the government, university, college and private sectors.
“Canadians place a high value on health and environmental, social and economic well-being,” says CCR Chair Jody Ciufo. “But to achieve these goals, we need a healthy research capacity—one that churns out new ideas and discoveries that fuel the innovation pipeline. We’re asking the party leaders what they intend to put into that pipeline.”
Specifically, the questions ask the parties about:
- support for Canada’s granting councils,
- large scale scientific facilities,
- funding for the humanities and social sciences,
- non-regulatory federal laboratories, and
- the Science Technology and Innovation Council.
“Our members represent the full range of sciences – natural, health and social sciences, the humanities and engineering,” says Ms Ciufo. “We’re asking these questions on behalf of our members, but more so for future generations of Canadians, who need action now on basic research to ensure that innovation will flow fully into the coming decades.”
The Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR) was established in 1976. It consists of 18 organizations that represent researchers in all disciplines across Canada. While the majority of these researchers are based in universities, the constituent organizations have numerous members in government laboratories and in private sector research centres. With approximately 50,000 researchers and 400,000 students represented in these member groups, the CCR is the largest organization in Canada whose primary concerns are the funding of research in all sectors and support for post-secondary education.