A major plank of the Liberal Party’s federal election platform is a promise to ensure that everyone in Canada has access to a family doctor or primary health care team. The party has pledged $6 billion over four years to support the commitment. Around five million Canadians lack access to primary care. But the Liberals’ […]
Canada
Canadian election leaves scientists hanging — no matter who wins
Leading political parties pay scant attention to research in run-up to general election. Canada’s two main political parties are running neck and neck in the lead-up to the country’s general election on 21 October. It’s unclear which party will come out on top, and that uncertainty extends to how science will fare in the next […]
Climate facts subject to rules on partisan advertising in Canada
Environmental charities and campaigners in Canada’s upcoming federal election this fall say they are facing new restrictions on how they talk about climate change after a warning from the country’s election watchdog that the topic will be subject to rules around third party “issue advertising.” Read more in Science.
Mystery surrounds ouster of Chinese researchers from Canadian laboratory
Canadian researchers are reacting with puzzlement to the news that a “policy breach” has caused the nation’s only high-containment disease laboratory to bar a prominent Chinese Canadian virologist, her biologist husband, and a number of students from the facility. On 5 July, officials at the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg, Canada, escorted Xiangguo Qiu, […]
Unemployed physicians a sign of poor workforce planning
After years of gruelling training, specialists might be forgiven for expecting it to be easy to find a job and put their hard-earned, in-demand skills to work. But that is not always the case. Around 20% of specialists cannot find work at the time of their certification, according to a survey by the Royal College […]
Why are Canada’s scientists getting political?
Erratic funding for basic research, coupled with concerns that science has fallen down the priority list for politicians, has contributed to a shift in researchers’ attitudes to lobbying. Just a few days into her job as Canada’s new science minister, Kirsty Duncan found herself receiving a hero’s welcome when she took to the stage at […]
How apps and online databases are helping conservation science to thrive
Thanks to internet-enabled technologies and citizen scientists, ecologists now have access to more data than ever before. Science is not always done by experts cloistered in ivory towers. Increasingly, ordinary people are getting involved in gathering data – on local birds, insects, plants, climate and more – through citizen science initiatives. Enlisting the public in […]
Canada budget overlooks basic research
Small spending bumps for genomics and physics stand in stark contrast to the funding windfall across basic research in last year’s budget. What a difference a year makes. Canada’s 2019 budget, released on 19 March, includes modest increases for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government priorities including neuroscience and genomics research ― nothing like the historic five-year, […]
Cannabis money opens new opportunities, and ethical dilemmas, for medical research
A research partnership between The Lung Association of Ontario and Tetra Bio-Pharma, a drug company focused on medicinal cannabis, has raised questions about whether it is appropriate for health-focused charities and researchers to work with companies selling a product that is smoked. Read more in CMAJ.
Researchers scramble to meet deadline for New Frontiers research fund
Final applications are due February 7, just weeks after inaugural competition was launched. While many Canadian academics were enjoying a bit of time off over the holidays, some early-career researchers were scrambling to put together applications for the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), the new funding program designed to support risky interdisciplinary research. Read more […]