Comments on: Science Policy in Canada: We should be ashamed… http://scienceadvocacy.org/Blog/2010/01/21/science-policy-in-canada-we-should-be-ashamed%e2%80%a6/ Science in Canada: Issues affecting trainees Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:01:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dave K http://scienceadvocacy.org/Blog/2010/01/21/science-policy-in-canada-we-should-be-ashamed%e2%80%a6/comment-page-1/#comment-402 Dave K Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:15:33 +0000 http://scienceadvocacy.org/Blog/?p=223#comment-402 Hi SubC,  Nice to have you back - always great to get your comments.  We do try to present the positive happenings in Canada (science media centre, stem cell charter, various outreach groups, etc) but if you ever want to help us enrich the site with more positive stories, please do email me at contact@scienceadvocacy.org and we can give you some space as a guest blogger - you clearly enjoy discussing the issues and our readers would benefit from some well thought out articles from you. As for the Nature article, I didn't link to it in this post because of the inaccuracies you stated, but I do think that it is still critically important to recognize that when a journal so widely read as Nature puts out multiple negative items, the impact on the perception of the state of science (or science policy) in our country is dealt a severe blow.  In particular, It has repercussions on our ability to recruit and retain excellent scientists and trainees, so it deserves mention.   I agree with you that 100% negativity is not the way to go and that the state of affairs in other countries is not necessarily better than Canada's - but I do think that the goal going forward needs to involve knowing which countries do particular things better than ours so we can adopt or create similar movements in Canada. I look forward to hearing from you.   Hi SubC, 
Nice to have you back – always great to get your comments.  We do try to present the positive happenings in Canada (science media centre, stem cell charter, various outreach groups, etc) but if you ever want to help us enrich the site with more positive stories, please do email me at contact@scienceadvocacy.org and we can give you some space as a guest blogger – you clearly enjoy discussing the issues and our readers would benefit from some well thought out articles from you.

As for the Nature article, I didn’t link to it in this post because of the inaccuracies you stated, but I do think that it is still critically important to recognize that when a journal so widely read as Nature puts out multiple negative items, the impact on the perception of the state of science (or science policy) in our country is dealt a severe blow.  In particular, It has repercussions on our ability to recruit and retain excellent scientists and trainees, so it deserves mention.  

I agree with you that 100% negativity is not the way to go and that the state of affairs in other countries is not necessarily better than Canada’s – but I do think that the goal going forward needs to involve knowing which countries do particular things better than ours so we can adopt or create similar movements in Canada.

I look forward to hearing from you.  

]]> By: SubC http://scienceadvocacy.org/Blog/2010/01/21/science-policy-in-canada-we-should-be-ashamed%e2%80%a6/comment-page-1/#comment-399 SubC Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:58:49 +0000 http://scienceadvocacy.org/Blog/?p=223#comment-399 I am surprised that you would still refer to the Nature article on Canadian postdocs which was so full of lies, damn lies and assorted misrepresentations. As a postdoc in Canada, I am ashamed that there wasn't a stronger response against this piece of bad publicity. As for the blogs, the name "Dont leave Canada behind" suggests an inherent bias and I'm hardly surprised that they highlight the negatives at the expense of teh positives. While all postdocs would agree that the general picture is far from rosy, harping on the shortcomings is not the only way to move forward and make real change. As for tjose who suggests it is a uniquely Canadian thing, please take a look at Science Careers or The Scientist to get a perspective from US postdocs (hardly better a lot than us). Instead of criticising anything and everything, let us all work together with the funding agencies, govt and universities to make a change for the better !! I am surprised that you would still refer to the Nature article on Canadian postdocs which was so full of lies, damn lies and assorted misrepresentations. As a postdoc in Canada, I am ashamed that there wasn’t a stronger response against this piece of bad publicity. As for the blogs, the name “Dont leave Canada behind” suggests an inherent bias and I’m hardly surprised that they highlight the negatives at the expense of teh positives. While all postdocs would agree that the general picture is far from rosy, harping on the shortcomings is not the only way to move forward and make real change. As for tjose who suggests it is a uniquely Canadian thing, please take a look at Science Careers or The Scientist to get a perspective from US postdocs (hardly better a lot than us). Instead of criticising anything and everything, let us all work together with the funding agencies, govt and universities to make a change for the better !!

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