“Mr. Speaker, I am pursuing a question I first asked on April 14. I have been concerned for some time that the new Liberal government has less respect for science than previous governments had. We recently mourned the death of our colleague Dr. Kirsty Duncan. In all the eulogies, people remembered her as the first minister of science in Canada. We may note, and I hate to say this, that she will be the last minister of science in Canada, because there is not one now. The gravitas, the importance, of scientific briefings and scientific advice from core government departments that are science-based is sorely lacking. This is reflected in the cuts to Environment and Climate Change and to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, to basic scientific research. Whole branches of science are being shut down in this country. A scientific expert, an anthropologist and taxonomist, contacted me because the whole national collection of insects in the Diptera order has been shut down. There are no scientists to pick up this work. They have all been laid off. An international petition was launched; 495 scientists from 47 different countries are raising the alarm about Canada’s dropping the ball. It may seem to people that it is obscure to keep track of what species of insect we have in our collection, but it can cause enormous economic damage when we lose the brainpower to know which insect is which. If it is an exotic species that does not belong in a particular forest, we need to know about it soon, and we need to take action. There are cuts across the board. An open letter was sent just today to the Prime Minister’s office, from 425 scientists from many jurisdictions, including internationally, concerned that the cuts to the ocean protection plan mean that we simply will not be able to understand and protect our marine environment. These are serious matters, and I asked the Prime Minister, in April, if he had ever consulted his chief science adviser about these cuts. The hon. parliamentary secretary made a good go of it, saying that, in general, people appreciated the advice of Dr. Mona Nemer, the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser. However, since I asked the question, I have had it verified that the Prime Minister has not once sat down to meet with his chief science adviser. This is deeply worrying. Changes are being proposed, such as in the massive discussion documents issued May 8, that would have profound impacts, endangering endangered species. Also, we are losing the precautionary principle. If we look, buried in the omnibus budget bill, Bill C-30, we find the single biggest assault on bringing evidence and science to bear on the dangers of pesticides to human health and the environment. However, buried in an omnibus bill, it will be studied only by the finance committee, which had no time to hear from witnesses really concerned about this issue. With that, I ask the government again, will it please rethink, stop and be concerned? The precautionary principle has been recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada as fundamental to our legal jurisprudence. In this country, we do not want to find ourselves once again with decision-based evidence-making. We need to look at the science and do our research first, before we decide we have to build whatever fast and not be concerned with what the scientists are warning us will occur if we fail to think first, plan well and then build.”
Statement grade
A–
The average of Signal, Relevance, Respect and Clarity.
Average 89 / 100
A score under 50 is red. Choose a measurement to see where it lost points and why; choose it again to clear.
Thanks 14%Claims 69%Reasoning 16%Positioning 1%
This view breaks the statement into its steps and names what each one does.
Mr. Speaker, Thanks · 20 wordsI appreciate my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands’ concern about this and her long-standing advocacy for evidence-based approaches to public policy.ThanksClaims · 49 wordsWith respect to the chief science officer, she is somebody I engage with and the Minister of Industry and her department engage with regularly.That is where the chief science officer is based.Also, she has significant engagement with parliamentarians, including through the Standing Committee on Science and Research.Thanks · 47 wordsI want to join my colleague in paying tribute, which I think we have each done in different forms in the last few months, to the late Kirsty Duncan, who had a significant responsibility in helping with the existence of the Standing Committee on Science and Research.1ThanksReasoning · 21 wordsWhen we think about the ways to honour her, it is by continuing the ideals and principles for which she stood, Claims · 300 wordsand I see those quite well reflected in the recent actions of this government.In the 2024 budget, we made historic investments in the tri-council agencies, which are the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, as well as the Canada Foundation for Innovation.They are the federal government’s main mechanisms for driving scientific discovery all the way from the discovery phase to the application phase.We made historic investments, making up after a significant period of relative underinvestment, with billions of dollars of investment going to those agencies.2We followed up on that in 2025 with another new major set of investments toward the impact+ research chairs program.3We just announced almost 700 new doctoral and post-doctoral fellows coming from outside of Canada to help support the next generation of scientific research.4These funds, as well as our forthcoming impact+ research chairs program, are not only crowding in other private and philanthropic funds, but generating excitement around the prospect of doing leading-edge research in science that has the translational piece, results in policy advice and helps inform government in very significant ways.Those investments in the 2024 budget and the 2025 budget are informing Canada, Canadians, the public policy community and parliamentarians with new information to help tackle some recent challenges.I will also note a number of our new major strategies, whether it is the national food strategy, which was launched today; 5the AI strategy, which was launched last week; 6our critical minerals strategy; our national electricity strategy; or a number of other strategies.They place at the centre evidence, research and the innovation that derives from that research.Sprinkled across a number of different recent actions of this government, we see investments in science.Thanks · 16 wordsThe hon. member is a champion of a particular set of institutions that are very important.ThanksClaims · 56 wordsWe are very proud on this side to be hosting the Our Ocean Conference in 2027.7I know the health of the oceans is of particular concern to the member, and we have committed, through our nature plan, to protecting 30% of Canada’s lands and waters by 2030.8That, too, is evidence-informed, evidence-based and scientifically informed.Positioning · 8 wordsWe believe in the investments we have made.PositioningReasoning · 73 wordsYes, there is some attention to be paid to government-direct research, but if the member looks at the full set of research in which we are investing and the full set of science in which we are investing, we are the place to do this scientific research.I think the results with respect to the interest of those outside of Canada wanting to come to Canada to do this work speak for themselves.Unearned certainty
