News   Mar 27, 2024
 1.1K     1 
News   Mar 27, 2024
 1.1K     2 
News   Mar 27, 2024
 631     0 

Harper Eliminates Funding for Big Science

unimaginative2

Senior Member
Member Bio
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
4,554
Reaction score
10
Location
New York
The program that he has eliminated, Genome Canada, is the only funder of big scientific research projects in Canada. I can only assume that this is a play to his religious conservative base, because it funds stem cell research.

Nation's credibility on the line, scientists warn

Projects uncertain after budget snub

CAROLYN ABRAHAM

From Friday's Globe and Mail

January 30, 2009 at 4:00 AM EST

The uncertainty over research funding in Canada left scientists across the country fretting over the future of crucial projects yesterday, and a few wondering if they would relocate their work.

While the United States took steps to add billions to research budgets, Adrian Tsang, a molecular geneticist at Concordia University in Montreal, worried that his long-time effort to find a biofuel alternative will be compromised with Genome Canada — the only agency in the country that regularly funds large-scale science — receiving no new money in 2009.

Dr. Tsang, who collaborates with Dutch researchers and the U.S. Department of Energy, is developing enzymes from fungi to generate a clean energy source, as well as enzymes that can reduce energy consumption in the manufacturing of pulp and paper.

He hoped to hear in February whether Genome Canada would approve his application for $10-million over four years. But after learning the non-governmental agency was not mentioned in this week's federal budget, Dr. Tsang fears he will be out of luck. "My credibility is on the line, and so is Canada's," he said. "We have our part to keep up."

At the University of Calgary, neurobiologist Samuel Weiss, who last year won a prestigious Gairdner Award for discovering the brain's ability to make new cells, was struggling to understand why the budget offered no new money for research operating grants at Canada's three federal funding agencies — the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council and the National Science and Engineering Research Council. The federal budget suggests these key granting agencies are to find $87.2-million in savings over the next three years.

"The tri-council funding is the bedrock in advances in health and innovation," said Dr. Weiss, whose own work, now being tested in patients with spinal cord injuries, began in mice.

The government has invested in buildings and training bright people, he said, but "without operating money what are they going to do?"

If the funding taps don't flow, he said, "We could start losing the best and the brightest, they'll go do something else — or they may just go somewhere else."

At the University of Toronto, senior scientist Corey Nislow and his wife Guri Giaever, who holds the Canada Research Chair in chemical genetics, wonder whether the apparent reluctance to provide strong research funding in Canada will drive them back to the United States.

In 2006, the couple left their California home and Stanford University lab for the U of T, frustrated by the lack of funding and support for research in the United States at the time. Now they fear the same scenario is playing out in their new home.

"Canada is not even keeping pace. It seems at first everyone thought that this (lack of funding to Genome Canada) must be a typo, but no, it seems like very bad news."

Dr. Nislow said he and his wife have started to talk about whether they will return to the States. "After 21/2 years here we are in the sweet spot of our research … and the last thing I want to do is think about moving. But we have to be realistic.

"The anticipation is that there will be quite an injection of cash into research in the U.S. The optimist in me thought Canada would follow suit."

As part of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package, the U.S. House of Representatives approved Wednesday a $3.9-billion (U.S.) increase to the budget of the National Institutes of Health, the main funding agency for medical research in the United States.

Michael Hayden, a world-renowned geneticist at the University of British Columbia and the scientist dubbed "researcher of the year" by the CIHR, said the lack of new research funding here is "a missed opportunity for Canada."

"Our future depends on innovation and knowledge creation," he said. "Relatively small measures, including significantly increasing the budgets of our national granting councils and Genome Canada, together with moves to stimulate investment, such as tax incentives, could transform new discoveries into products and services — which would create sustainable knowledge-based jobs for the future.

"The USA , the UK and EU are already on this path and we will need an urgent plan not evident in this budget to remain competitive."

Dr. Hayden, whose own discoveries, which include the genes behind Huntington's disease and pain, have led to spin-off companies, has also received support from Genome Canada.

Government officials dispute that they have abandoned the independent funding agency. The government's view is that it gave Genome Canada $100-million in 2007 and $140-million in 2008. Minister of Science and Technology Gary Goodyear insisted in Question Period yesterday that both of those sums were to be rolled out over five years and that the money should last the organization until 2013.

"We are doing that because we know Genome Canada is good for Canada, and the good work they do is good for Canadians' health," Mr. Goodyear said.

Liberal MP Marc Garneau said the government knows "that small amount of money [pledged in previous years] is already fully committed and has been for some time. Genome Canada's world-leading research programs are in jeopardy and thousands of jobs will be lost if the Conservatives fail to fund them."

Genome Canada, which invests roughly $105-million in research each year, says the current government funding does not allow it to meet its earmarked spending commitments as of 2010, let alone finance new long-term projects that might start this year. Genome Canada has usually received a specified amount in each federal budget since it launched in 2000.

For this reason, Martin Godbout, Genome Canada's president and CEO, said he made his annual pitch to Industry Canada staff to provide the non-profit organization $70-million in each of the next five years. Dr. Godbout said the request was "well received" and that he was invited to attend the budget lockup.

The lack of funding in the 2009 budget, and the uncertainty of future funding, means Canada cannot commit to playing a major role in long-term research ventures and calls into question the future funding of existing projects. The organization currently supports 33 major research projects and more than 2,000 jobs.

"[The government's money] doesn't keep pace with future funding," Dr. Godbout said. "We cannot even ask someone to even start writing a grant proposal if we don't have the money in the bank."

One project now in doubt, for example, is the so-called Regulome Consortium, a massive international effort to map the genetic circuitry of stem cells. Canada was to lead the $84-million venture, which involves 64 investigators in 12 countries and is considered crucial to programming stem cells for future treatments.

Project leader Michael Rudnicki, a senior scientist at the Ottawa Health Research Institute and head of Canada's Stem Cell Network, said they hope funding from Genome Canada can provide $20-million over the next five years. "It is contingent on new money from Genome Canada," Dr. Rudnicki said.

"I'm hoping there will be an outcry from the Canadian public about the lack of new research funds.

"It shows a lack of understanding in the value of research."

Still, Dr. Godbout extended the government an olive branch, saying he hoped funds would flow from Ottawa in the future: "We have a good relationship with Industry Canada and we want to keep it."
 
our prime minister is an a$$hole.


i see a parallel to the avro arrow project. harper/diefenbaker cuts funding to science research/avro arrow project, all our creme de la creme scientists leave canada and go work in the states and develop cures/the american space program.


this is extremely unpatriotic. not even if he waved every flag in the county at the same time could he make up for this unpatriotic act.
 
Hardly a surprise from a guy who said that he doesn't care if Canada has one, two or ten national governments as long as it has less government.

The opposition should at the very least be proposing amendments to fix this and pay equity.
 
Hardly a surprise from a guy who said that he doesn't care if Canada has one, two or ten national governments as long as it has less government.

i don't know where the joy in this is. if you have less government, that means you have fewer people in control & those fewer people have more authority and power.
 
Conservatives believe in private funding for science. The problem is that the private sector waits for a breakthrough, and then jumps on board. The hard part is getting the breakthrough. That's where government comes in.

This is a complete travesty. I'm been pining for Canada to invest in research and innovation for years. We're being left behind by the rest of the world.

What the hell are we spending our money on? Our military spending is relatively small... so what is it?
 
At a time where he is making a ginormous deficit just to stimulate the economy, our brainiac had decided to CUT funding to science?? What is his problem, stem cells are proven to be a major breakthrough in medical research, and he's ELIMINATING funding?? This is outrageous!!
 
At a time where he is making a ginormous deficit just to stimulate the economy, our brainiac had decided to CUT funding to science?? What is his problem, stem cells are proven to be a major breakthrough in medical research, and he's ELIMINATING funding?? This is outrageous!!



maybe his heart decided to cutoff blood supply to his brain?
 
Harper keeps this up come next election he is going to end up giving the liberals a majority government :mad:
 
Harper doesn't know how to foster scientific development nor does he know how to compete in the global economy. Stupid decision on his part.
 
LMFAO!!!

For five minutes!! I laughed at that for FIVE minutes LOL!

i'm glad you enjoy my one line zingers. :)

and who knows, we may lose some sectors with such stupid moves by harper but we will also gain in the comedy sector. just look at how bush's regime helped the american comedy industry! maybe while scientists relocate to the US, comedians such as john stewart will relocate to canada.

laughter can be medicine too right? ;)
 
Even though the U.S. will remain much more Conservative than Canada for the foreseeable future, it's still hard not to get the feeling that they are hurtling in a more progressive direction and we in the other.
 
Even though the U.S. will remain much more Conservative than Canada for the foreseeable future, it's still hard not to get the feeling that they are hurtling in a more progressive direction and we in the other.

Just remember the character of politics is in the people of a nation, not in its government. And that's where Canada still shines well above and beyond the United States.
 

Back
Top