After a thirteen year stint on the opposition benches in January Canadians voted in a Conservative Government led by Stephen Harper.

 

Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, telling it like it is.

And according to Science Mr Harper laments the current dire lack of a sound plan for investing in science. In its first budget, delivered last week, since being elected in January, "...the Harper government put S&T relatively low on its list of fiscal priorities but said it planned to develop a new research policy based on demonstrating "value for money." In the meantime, the 2.4% increase proposed for the nation's three granting councils pales next to a 5% rise in overall government spending. The new budget, for the fiscal year that began 1 April, leaves the research councils with the unpleasant prospect of coping with a rising number of applications by chopping the number or size of awards or both, scaling back targeted programs, and at the same time, expending time and money to argue their case in the next review."

 

The Canadian Association of University Teachers Executive Director James Turk told Science he is worried that the exercise to find a "new research policy" hides a "malevolent" attempt to gut basic research in favor of industrially relevant science.

 

As it had promised during the election campaign  the Harper government has "gutted climate change programs once designed to meet Canada's Kyoto Protocol commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The government says it will develop its own 'made in Canada' solutions this fall."

 

Following on his imminent four day visit with US President George W Bush, Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, will go on to Ottawa for talks with his Canadian counterpart. No prizes for tipping the topics that will be discussed and the sorts of advice Mr Harper, 47 will receive from Mr Howard, 66.