Canada
Category archives for Canada
Scientific discovery is not valuable unless it has commercial value
Posted by John Dupuis on May 7, 2013 Now there’s a quote for you! Provocative in it’s shortsightedness and fairly ignorant of how the interplay between scientific discovery and commercialization/technology transfer works. Commercial products are engineered and developed out of basic scientific discoveries. So who said that? Sadly, it was the John McDougall, President of the National Research Council of Canada talking about…
Reading Diary: Keystone XL: Down the Line by Steven Mufson
Posted by John Dupuis on April 29, 2013 What kind of place has Canada become? The kind of place that closes world-class research facilities in the arctic and in lake country. (Thanks, Ontario!) The kind of place where the government actively muzzles it’s own scientists and librarians, the scientists for wanting to share their research and librarians who want to talk about the…
Around the Web: Access Copyright sues York University
Posted by John Dupuis on April 16, 2013 Since I work at York University, I’m going to refrain from commenting on this lawsuit. However, as is my practice I’ll be creating and maintaining a list of relevant articles and resources here to help me stay current on the matter. I am not attempting to create a comprehensive list. General Statement of Claim against…
The Canadian war on public science, basic research and the free and open exchange of scientific information
Posted by John Dupuis on March 22, 2013 You would think that such apple pie issues as public science, basic research and the free and open exchange of scientific information would be hard to disagree with. You would think that a resolution in the Canadian parliament would to such effect would meet with resounding support, resulting in a unanimous vote, the room resounding…
The Canadian War on Science: Ottawa’s dangerous unscientific revolution
Posted by John Dupuis on October 15, 2012 C. Scott Findlay, associate professor of biology at the University of Ottawa and a visiting research scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, had a sobering article in the Toronto Star a few days ago. It’s titled Governing in the dark: Ottawa’s dangerous unscientific revolution and it fits right in with my recent seemingly endless…
Winners of the 2011 Lane Anderson Award Celebrating the Best Science Writing in Canada
Posted by John Dupuis on September 29, 2012 This past Thursday evening I was honoured to attend the awards ceremony for the 2011 Lane Anderson Award which celebrates the best science writing in Canada. The winners were announced at the end of the evening. This is from the press release, which doesn’t seem to be online yet: Toronto. 2thth September, 2012: The two…
Around the Web: The Canadian War on Library and Archives Canada
Posted by John Dupuis on September 27, 2012 The current Conservative government of Canada isn’t too fond of Canadians having access to information. It’s inconvenient for them because I guess a well-informed citizenry would be more likely to call them on the various shenanigans they’ve been indulging in. A good general take on the situation is Allan Gregg’s recent speech, 1984 in 2012…
2011 Lane Anderson Award Shortlist: Celebrating the Best Science Writing in Canada
Posted by John Dupuis on August 28, 2012 I saw an article in the Quill and Quire announcing the shortlist for the Lane Anderson Award, celebrating the best in Canadian science writing. The Lane Anderson Award honours the very best science writing in Canada today, both in the adult and young-reader categories. Each award will be determined on the relevance of its content…
Controversy at the recent Canadian Library Association conference
Posted by John Dupuis on June 4, 2012 Apologies to my loyal readers for the rather inside-baseball library and Canadian politics focus of my recent posts, but that unfortunately is where I’m at right now. It will probably continue for a least a little bit. Onward. The Canadian Library Association held its annual conference in Ottawa last week and one of the highlights…
An Open Letter to the World on the Governmental Destruction of the Environment in Canada
Posted by John Dupuis on May 25, 2012 I’ve been posting quite a bit recently on the disastrous record of the current Conservative government here in Canada, especially in regards to how they treat information, science and the environment. Sadly, I have way too many posts in the works along these lines. The other day a post I saw on the Deciphering Science…
