Lisa Willemse, Science Borealis Board Member “Oh, the East is East and the West is West and never the twain shall meet.” Though this line from Rudyard Kipling’s 1889 Ballad of East and West is often used to describe differences, the poem – a commentary on race and colonialism – is actually much more positive, […]
Policy and Politics
Will there be a science-focused debate during the 2015 election campaign?
Pascal Lapointe and Josh Silberg, Policy & Politics co-editors In a Toronto Star opinion piece published on August 12, Katie Gibbs and Alana Westwood of Evidence for Democracy called for a national science debate between federal political leaders. Librarian John Dupuis echoed Evidence for Democracy’s sentiment in a recent blog post, and began brainstorming potential […]
Muzzled Open Access
Josh Silberg and Pascal Lapointe, Policy & Politics co-editors When federal scientists asked Ottawa to enshrine scientific integrity in their upcoming collective agreement, the mainstream media began to take notice (again). The muzzling of federal scientists has been discussed for years in several venues, including an investigative report by CBC’s The Fifth Estate and a […]
Canada isn’t immune to the Thirty Meter Telescope controversy
Stephanne Taylor, Physics & Astronomy co-editor The Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) project is exactly what it says on the box: a telescope with a staggering 30 metre segmented lens, housed in an 18-storey observatory in the very early stages of construction on Mauna Kea, Hawai’i. If built, the TMT will be the largest telescope in […]
Science journalism: the key to strong science literacy
Pascal Lapointe, Policy & Politics co-editor Last month, Québecers learned that money talks when it comes to manipulating science information, whether you pay a public relations firm a high enough price, or if you buy advertising. At the same time, however, we’re cutting funding to science journalism. Perhaps these two should be reversed? TransCanada […]