Science in the news: between the lines
The big news in Canadian papers earlier today was about a stem cell breakthrough by a team of researchers in Toronto. The articles are chest-thumping and patriotic. “Look how good we Canadians are!,” they say.
Reading between the lines, though, I prefer to say “enjoy it while it lasts.”
Not long ago, you may recall there being a bit of a hubbub about the Canadian budget. Eventually it was resolved, and a budget was passed. That budget had a hole in it the size of the Canadian scientific community. It offered them nothing new. Looking at those articles, what stands out first is the global nature of the effort: Japanese and American research teams making initial breakthroughs. A Canadian research team working with a British one on this new breakthrough. Canadians are amongst a select group at the forefront of this technology.
Perhaps I should not be saying “read between the lines”, though. The answers are in the sidebar (at least with The Globe and Mail).
The United States has just exited what is being (over-dramatically) termed a “scientific dark age”. The Bush government’s policy starved American scientists of funds, and their position on certain research (such as stem cell research) prevented research in this sort of area. This has allowed the world — Canada included — to catch up.
But the new Harper policy mimics the Bush policy, despite the damage it did. It’s easy to see how wrong it is. Look at this discovery, and it is easy to see how it benefits Canada economically (probably the only argument that appeals to Conservatives other than “old fashioned family values”). New partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and the research groups that worked on this will likely be formed. The money from government grants that went into this research is going to be repaid into the Canadian economy many times over, through renewed investment and patents.
Scientific progress drives economic progress. Canada’s position on scientific funding in comparison to that of the United States has given the country an edge in this area, and it’s one the Conservative government seems eager to throw away.
In trying economic times, governments the world over are trying to invest money to boost their economies. The smart ones are investing them in things that will give their countries an advantage over the longer term. It is sad that the Canadian government has turned its back on the country’s long-term gain.
We can expect future announcements like this one to be few and far between.
Related articles:
Yup. Harper closed the office of National Science Adviser last year.
And they’ve been muzzling researchers at Environment Canada to keep them from saying things the Harper government finds inconvenient.
(http://captainmushroom.livejournal.com/tag/environment+canada)
Not to mention Stephen Harper personally guaranteeing that we could open Chalk River to generate medical isotopes without performing the needed safety maintenance.
I really wish we could get a decent government together here. Maybe we need yet another party, because the ones we have all seem to be useless.
The Conservatives have made plain their intention to link science funding with economics in their announcement of funding for new Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (note the order in the title). They also announced new research funding for “Business-Led Networks”, which will be focused on “specific business research leads” in science. I guess academic researchers don’t vote Conservative enough…
@Rob
“I guess academic researchers don’t vote Conservative enough”
I had a similar thought when composing this, but it didn’t make it into the final product — trying very hard to focus my arguments on the policy, rather than make attcks on motivations that cannot be substantiated.