Ontario funding to support hundreds of research projects; the country’s first interdisciplinary training network in perinatal research on medications, and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s U of T visit to discuss the rise of artificial intelligence.
Person: Rachael Maxwell
Non-profit to grade transparency in government policymaking
The non-profit Evidence for Democracy has released a framework to judge government policies based on the level of transparency around evidence.
Parliament votes to create a new committee to spotlight science and research issues
Canada’s 44th Parliament will have a Standing Committee on Science and Research as a result of a motion spearheaded in the House of Commons by Deputy House Leader and former science minister Kirsty Duncan. It passed with unanimous support last Wednesday.
Q&A: Evidence for Democracy’s Rachael Maxwell on Budget 2021 and listening to the science
Rachael Maxwell, the new executive director of Evidence for Democracy (E4D), recently released an analysis of the federal budget, which noted promising investments in sectors like quantum tech and genomics but argued that the country needs a national science strategy. Maxwell spoke to Research Money this week about the federal budget, why relationships are most important in developing evidence-based policies, and how she views her organization’s role in the science ecosystem.
The Short Report – March 31, 2021: Canadian government invests $925 million in biomanufacturing, funding for variants research, a new digitalization centre, and more
Ottawa announces major funding to expand Sanofi Pasteur’s Ontario facility for domestic biomanufacturing and vaccine preparedness; there’s new funding support for COVID-19 variants research and a new national network, and Siemens launches its first centre to accelerate the digitalization of energy and infrastructure in Canada.