Dear Canadians,
A recent public opinion poll showed that 73% of Canadians feel the top priority for government science should be protecting our health, safety and the environment.
We’ve seen drastic funding cuts to the science needed to keep us safe and healthy - over 2000 federal government science jobs have already been cut. It looks like this trend is set to continue with a recent report showing that $2.6 billion is set to be cut from science-based government departments between 2013 and 2016. The recent consultation period for the revised federal science strategy focused on business innovation with little attention for all the other research that is crucial for making informed policy decisions. Yet 90% of Canadians do not feel that business innovation should be the top priority. It doesn’t add up.
Evidence for Democracy is working hard to rebalance this equation. We can, and must, fight for better federal science policies that truly reflect the values of Canadians.
We’ve already been busy in 2014. In January we launched a campaign to save our science libraries and over 3,500 Canadians have signed the petition. In February we submitted a response to the federal science and technology consultation and launched a campaign to encourage more public consultation. Over 1,600 responses were submitted!
On top of that, E4D board members have been giving presentations in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax to increase public interest in these issues and countless media interviews on how the erosion of our research capacity puts our democracy at risk.
We need our supporters to help us as we grow and expand our work. Please help us with a contribution of $50 per month or whatever you can afford at this time.
Your support will strengthen our ability to champion science and evidence-based decision-making in Canada.
Thank you,
Dr. Scott Findlay
Evidence for Democracy Board of Directors
P.S. A donation of $50/month or more means that you will be recognized on our website as a founding donor!
Source: http://www.pipsc.ca/portal/page/portal/website/issues/science/vanishingscience
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