Mona Nemer, a cardiology researcher and vice president of research at the University of Ottawa, has been named Canada’s new chief science adviser by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “Scientists need to have a voice,” Trudeau said, making the announcement in Ottawa today. Nemer’s office will have a CA$2 million budget, and she will report to […]
Canada
Canada’s New Arctic Research Facility Prepares to Open
The Canadian High Arctic Research Station in Cambridge Bay will serve as a base for scientists studying everything from the region’s changing cryosphere to how to best deploy renewable energy projects in northern communities. THIS OCTOBER, AS winter begins to draw near in the Canadian Arctic, a new research facility will finally open its doors. The Canadian High […]
Saving Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy
Canada already has a forward-thinking salmon management plan on the books. Now it just needs to implement it. When Canada’s Policy for Conservation of Wild Pacific Salmon was announced in 2005, it was hailed as a major step forward for fisheries management in the country. “It was a blueprint for how to manage, rebuild, and […]
Federal government getting pressed on many sides to adopt Naylor report
Researchers, university administrators, students and others across Canada rally in an unprecedented effort to ensure the government doesn’t ignore the report’s recommendations. Canada’s academic community has launched a full court press to encourage the government to adopt the recommendations of the report of Canada’s Fundamental Science Review panel, also known as the Naylor report. The report, requested […]
How Are We Now? Inuit Health Survey Returns to Nunavik
A health survey of Inuit communities in northern Quebec found widespread food insecurity and other problems 13 years ago. A follow-up now underway will see how much things have changed. THE CCGS AMUNDSEN, Canada’s Arctic research icebreaker, has begun a unique portion of its summer research schedule – visiting 14 remote Inuit communities along the shore of Hudson Bay […]
Review of Canadian science calls for better oversight, coordination—and more money
To reinvigorate its science base, Canada needs to “reinvest” almost CAD$500 million in basic, investigator-led research over the next 4 years, according to a long-awaited review of the country’s science and innovation landscape released today. “A crucial shortcoming in the system is the level of support for independent investigator-initiated research,” David Naylor, a former president […]
Canada Foundation for Innovation awards $18 million to Amundsen
CFI aims to secure ongoing operation and maintenance funds for research facilities including Canada’s only research icebreaker. Laval University has received more than $18 million for the research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen in the latest round of funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Science Initiatives Fund. Over the next five years, the funding will […]
Canada’s government scientists get anti-muzzling clause in contract
Scientists working for the Canadian government have successfully negotiated a clause in their new contract that guarantees their right to speak to the public and the media about science and their research, without needing approval from their managers. “Employees shall have the right to express themselves on science and their research, while respecting the Values […]
‘Ransomware’ cyberattack highlights vulnerability of universities
Staff at Canadian university given little guidance on how to mitigate future problems. The first Patrick Feng knew about a cyberattack on his university was when one of his colleagues told him that her computer had been infected by hackers and rendered unusable. Feng, who studies technology and sustainability policy at the University of Calgary […]
Drugs are going missing, but why?
Dr. Jacalyn Duffin, a hematologist and medical historian at Queen’s University in Kingston, first became aware that certain drugs were sometimes getting hard to find in 2010, when her patient at a cancer clinic wanted to stop chemotherapy because she couldn’t get prochlorperazine, a common anti-nausea drug. Duffin was shocked. “I just couldn’t believe that […]