The Harper government has begun its slashing of the public sector by eliminating more than twenty percent of the National Research Council’s budget. This is in addition to the 50 jobs cut at Environment Canada, including scientists and scientific support staff. “The targeting of science and research will not help Canada’s economy in the long term. Specifically, a picture is now emerging of deep cuts to climate sciences,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands. “Science and research are at the very foundation of a future-oriented economy that needs to be resilient and stable in the face of global changes.”
The National Research Council is under the purview of the Industry Minister and employs more than four thousand people across Canada in more than 20 institutes with a broad array of programs focused on leading-edge research and innovation.
“The government must be upfront and transparent about all of its planned layoffs. The Canadian economy will not be served well by losing all of our highly trained public servants working on key scientific questions,” said May. “Without our scientists, Canada will very quickly fall behind in the global knowledge-based economy. We need to better prioritize our spending with long term planning in mind.”