PIPSC laments budget cuts, ties them to job losses
On Wednesday, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) issued a press release decrying the $35-million in budget cuts to the National Research Council (NRC). The PIPISC represents 57,000 scientists and professionals in Canada’s public sector, and suggests that the cuts will result in job losses and will hurt Canada’s competitive position internationally. PIPSC President Gary Corbett criticizes the government’s short-sightedness in cutting NRC funding:
Since 1916, [NRC's] achievements in medical, atomic, agricultural, computer and space research have been synonymous with Canada’s scientific and technological development. Now this government is yet again turning its back on this key national asset in order to save a few dollars. What does that tell you about its commitment to science in this country?… There is a very real danger that these researchers, scientists and engineers will look to the United States to continue their careers, now that the Obama administration is making such a serious and wide-ranging commitment to science.
Meanwhile, after making an announcement about increased funding for automotive industry research (the kind of applied, commercially-relevant research the government is so keen on), Industry Minister Tony Clement joined in the defense of funding cuts, telling reporters, ”I will not stand here as an elected representative and say every single program in science will be funded forever. That’s absurd. In fact, that’s the antithesis of the scientific method.” While it may not rank on the same level as questioning evolutionary theory, Mr Clement may want to revisit his grade 9 science texts, since I’m not sure the scientific method says anything about term-limits for project funding…
