canadian advocacy initiatives - neuroscience€¦ · 2 - building a team of neuroadvocates...
TRANSCRIPT
Canadian Advocacy Initiatives
Chris AndersonU of Manitoba
Nafisa Jadavji Carleton U(Liaison to CSMB)
Charles Bourque, McGill U
Kurt Haas, U of British Columbia
Liisa GaleaU of British Columbia
Supported byCAN gratefully acknowledges SfN’s important support of our initiatives. This partnership has strengthened our advocacy efforts.
4 Challenges & Opportunities for increased impact
Lisa SaksidaWestern U
Karun SinghMcMaster U
CAN President: Jaideep BainsU Calgary
Advocacy Chair: Melanie WoodinU Toronto
Advocacy Committee
More on our website:can-acn.org/advocacy
Follow usfacebook.com/can.acntwitter.com/can_acnwww.flickr.com/photos/can-acn/sets/
4 Keys to effective advocacy in Canada1 - Engaging politicians
CAN has participated in events on Parliament Hill inOttawa, many of which featured presentations byneuroscientists. These meetings are opportunities to speakdirectly to Members of Parliament (MPs), and buildimportant relations with elected officials and groups thatalso advocate for increased science funding.
CAN encourages its members to invite their local MPs intheir laboratory. These visits are a great way to humanizeresearch, and show the reality and relevance of theneuroscience research being done in Canada.
Four MPs participated in the CAN annual meeting inVancouver in May 2018: Joyce Murray (Liberal), MattJeneroux (Conservative), Elizabeth May (Green) and FinDonnelly (New Democrat). The participation of members ofall political parties in a discussion about health researchsupport by the government shows this is an issue thatcrosses party lines and is important for all Canadians. AllMPs highlighted the important role of researcher advocatesto keep research funding at the forefront of thegovernment’s priorities.
The government of Canada holds official consultationsyearly on the budget. CAN has submitted briefs to theseconsultations, and invited its members to participate inopen mic sessions that occur across Canada.
There are alsoopportunities to engagewith the Ministers ofHealth, of Science and ofFinances on socialmedia, and Canadianneuroscientists use theseopportunities tocongratulate our electedofficials for their supportof science.
2 - Building Partnerships
SfNThe very important financial support provided by theSociety for Neuroscience has allowed CAN to develop adiversified advocacy program, specifically tailored toCanada’s political reality.
CAN’s participation in SfN’s Hill Day in 2018 was anextremely valuable experience, as we were able to see first-hand the professional approach SfN takes to advocacy, withpre-meeting training, and on-the-ground accompanimentof the scientists as they met with elected officials and theirstaff.
Research CanadaThrough our membership in Research Canada (https://rc-rc.ca/), CAN has visited the Canadian Parliament andshowcased neuroscience and neuroscientists to electedofficials on multiple occasions.
Other partnershipsCAN has developed important relationships with scientificassociations, such as the Canadian Society for MolecularBiosciences, who share a common goal of promotingincreased science funding in Canada.CAN also has links with Universities and Research Centers –as many of our members are actively engaged with theirinstitution, in leadership positions.
3 - Sharing a message
The Government of Canada commissioned a report on thestate of governmental funding of fundamental research inCanada, which was released in April 2017: Canada’sFundamental Science Review (available athttp://www.sciencereview.ca ).
Universities, research centre and associations of scientistsacross Canada rallied behind this report, which lead to the#SupportTheReport social media movement in advance ofbudget 2018.
Through coordinated messaging, including use of thewebsite supportthereport.ca, which was developed by CAN,the scientific community and its supporters were able tobring about a historic reinvestment in fundamentalresearch in Canada in the latest budget.
4 - Reaching out
Public lectures
Canadian neuroscience research successstoriesCAN regularly developed and published public-friendlyCanadian stories of research to highlight the work of ourmembers and its relevance to all Canadians.
Since 2016 CAN has developed over 30 stories, some ofwhich were collected in book format and distributed toelected officials in Ottawa during our visits, and at CANpublic events.
Many stories were also developed for presentations at ourannual meeting and disseminated through EurekAlert! (theAAAS Global Source for Science News). These stories andother association news can be found in the CAN newssection of our website: https://can-acn.org/category/can-news
Advocacy trainingCAN offered an advocacy training workshop to meeting attendees on May 31st 2017 titled “All You Need Is Love…And A Little Help From Your Friends.” A Science Communication and Advocacy Workshop, Jason A. Tetro, Advocacy Officer, CANhttps://can-acn.org/science-communication-and-advocacy-workshop
Promoting Advocacy & Outreach initiativesCAN has been awarding prizes for Outreach & Advocacysince 2016, at our annual meeting. These prizes serve tohighlight the great work done by Canadian neuroadvocatesacross the country, and help publicize their initiatives,which raise awareness of the importance of neuroscienceresearch for everyone.
1 - Balancing gratefulness and needThe government of Canada announcedhistorical investment in fundamentalresearch in the 2018 budget, with a 25%increase. Yet Canada remains second tolast in science funding in the G7.How to be thankful for the increased funding yet still ask for more?
Left to right: MelanieWoodin (incoming chairof the CAN advocacycommittee), JoyceMurray, liberal MP, MattJeneroux, ConservativeMP, Lynn Raymond, CANPresident, Fin Donnelly,New Democratic PartyMP, Elizabeth May,Green Party MP, KatalinToth, Chair of the CANAdvocacy Committee,Jaideep Bains, CAN Vice-President.
A delegation of Canadian neuroscientists in the Canadian Parliament building for the Neuroscience in Canada event in February 2017.Left to right: Jaideep Bains, VP-elect, Katalin Toth, Chair of Advocacy, Charles Bourque, Speaker, Freda Miller, President, Bev Orser, Speaker, Jason Tetro, Advocacy Officer.
Doug Munoz, Past Presidentof CAN, Julie Poupart,Advocacy Officer and KatalinToth, CAN VP in WashingtonDC for Hill Day 2018
CAN organizes yearlypublic lectures. The 2018public lectures featuredtwo leadingneuroscientists whospoke on the very timelytopic of addiction:Catharine Winstanley andLuke Clark. They arepictured here at a sciencemuseum in Vancouverwith Tim O’Connor,Shernaz Bamji and LiisaGalea.
2018 award winners: TheNeurohistory Team. Top (leftto right): Armin Mortazavi(cartoon),Jordan Shimell,Luis Bolanos, BrettHathaway, Eli York, andDavid Cheng Bottom (left toright): Susan Lin, AsmaBashir, Samantha Baglot,Amy Smith, and Anne LiuMissing from the photo:Aarthi Gobinath, Jill Dosso,Katelyn Hudak, Ellen Koch,Samantha Feldman, NailaKuhlmann, Blair Jovellar,and Matt Sacheli
2 - Building a team of neuroadvocatesNeuroscience research has the potential toimprove the lives of all Canadians.How to convince non-scientists to advocate for research with us?
3 - Competing with other government prioritiesThe government of Canada has identifiedits priorities as helping the middle classthrive, and boosting the economy.How can we make health research part ofthese priorities?
4 - Framing our messageInsider knowledge is needed to frame ourmessage in a way that will resonate withmembers of Parliament, Ministers and theirstaff.What is the best way to presentneuroscience research to touch the mindsand the hearts of elected officials?