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“Powerful coalition” of scientists accused of “manipulating public reverence” in research funding debate

(May 27, 2009) The debate over funding for university research moved onto the pages of the National Post this month, first, with an opinion piece by Michael Bliss, and then with a response by CAUT executive director Jim Turk.

Bliss wrote in last week’s May 14 National Post that the problem “seems to be that a fairly powerful coalition of pure scientists – who resist any attempt to steer the direction of research – plus disappointed grant applicants, plus a handful of scientific superstars willing to auction themselves to the highest bidding government, is trying fairly transparently to manipulate public reverence for science to bring pressure on Ottawa to abandon its priorities and just spend more and more.”

Turk’s response, published in the National Post on May 19, says Bliss is wrong to try to defend the Harper government's ill-considered science and research policies by blaming the scientists who dare to offer criticism. “Researchers know best what is happening and the Prime Minister should start listening to what they're saying,” he argues. “Decisions about research funding must be depoliticized, granting councils must be made independent of government, and the post of science advisor must be re-established and filled through a mechanism involving consultation with the scientific community.”