Canadian Government Dumps National Science Advisor. (January 29, 2008)

Canada's conservative government led by Stephen Harper has terminated the office of the national science adviser, less than four years after it was created by the Liberal government of Paul Martin.

Arthur Carty was originally appointed to the post of national science adviser (NAS) on April 1, 2004. Professor Carty was previously president of the National Research Council of Canada and dean of research at the University of Waterloo. His brief as NSA was to provide advice on global science and technology issues and how government could improve its support for and benefit from scientific research in Canada.

A government review instituted by Prime Minister Harper, examined a number of federal advisory bodies and decided to phase out the role of the National Science Adviser and discontinue the office of national science adviser (ONSA).

In 2006, Professor Carty and the ONSA had already been moved down to Industry Canada from the Privy Council Office where he had direct access to the Prime Minister.

Mark Henderson, the managing editor of Research Money, the Canadian trade publication focused on science and technology policy said the scientific community had had high hopes for ONSA but its underfunding had nullified that.

Bob McDonald, host of the CBC science radio program Quirks & Quarks told his listeners on Friday: "Eliminating the National Science Adviser is the latest in a string of events showing how our current government, at least at the top level, does not seem to be interested in the scientific perspective."

And he concluded: "All science involves uncertainties - that’s the way the system works. But it takes a scientific eye to determine whether those uncertainties are significant or not. Without that perspective, a politician hears conflicting views or biased information that clouds the issue and confuses the public. That’s where the National Science Adviser comes in. He or she is an independent, expert witness whose job is to provide perspective and education to the people at the top where the decisions are made. Apparently, that’s no longer going to happen in Canada."

Note added January 31: Nature reports: "Some scientists have criticized the move as evidence of the [Harper] government's lack of interest in science and understanding of how it is done. Anderson [David Anderson, director of the Guelph Institute for the Environment in Ontario and former federal environment minister] says that Carty must have had a hard time giving science advice while the administration was trying to discredit the science of climate change... some work, including a national consultation on how major science initiatives should seek funding, 'never saw the light of day', Carty told Nature . 'I don't really think the government has understood the role that a national science adviser — or that office [ONSA] — can play.'"