Science and Research Committee on Feb. 27th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Lloyd Longfield]

I know. That was good.

I also want to ask about the polytechnic mix, but maybe I can squeeze that in at the end.

Mr. Davies, go ahead, please, for two and a half minutes.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

Support Our Science has evidence that 62% of Canadian-trained Ph.D. graduates leave the country. What recommendations do you have to stop that brain drain?

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

We definitely don't want to have a brain drain. I'm not aware of the study you are referencing. I'm not questioning it, but I just want to qualify that by saying that sometimes that includes people who are leaving the country to train and then come back or who are going for post-doctoral studies, for example, and coming back. I think a longitudinal analysis of where our trained people go and how many of them come back is very important.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Do you know, Dr. Nemer, what percentage of Canadian-trained Ph.D. graduates leave the country for good?

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

I don't know this offhand. I hope it's not as high as what we had in the1990s. We need to keep all the talent we can in this country.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Of course.

The values of the Canada graduate scholarship—$17,500 for master's students and $21,000 for post-doctoral—have not changed since 2003. That's over 20 years. As well, the federally funded post-doctoral fellowship stipend of $45,000 has been constant since 2015.

Speaking before this committee, Dr. Shaun Khoo, a post-doctoral fellow at the Université de Montréal, said “Canada's academic institutions are not just competing with other countries for talent.”

What have you done or what recommendations have you made, if any, to get the government to increase these amounts?

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

I fully support funding graduate and postdoc students at the appropriate level and a competitive level. I don't think it's good for the country that we have some of our best minds living under the poverty line.

Yes, they will go to other places that will benefit from them, so I have very much been a supporter of increasing the value of the scholarships—

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Have you made a formal recommendation to the government to that effect?

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

I have.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

If I can, I'll squeeze in a quick one.

The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care is funded by PHAC. There have been criticisms that it does not include members with subject matter expertise and it doesn't rely on current scientific data.

Are you aware of that issue, and have you looked into that at all?

[The Chair, Liberal, Lloyd Longfield]

Answer very briefly. We're over time now.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

Very briefly, there is a chief scientist at PHAC who's a member of my network of science advisers, and she has taken the lessons learned from the pandemic. She's set up an expert committee, for example, on avian flu, so I'm very encouraged by this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lloyd Longfield]

Thank you.

We have, according to our routine motions, space at the end for another Conservative round and another Liberal round of up to five minutes. Who's going to take the Conservative round?

Okay. It's Mr. Maguire.

Looking at the clock, I'm going to need a few minutes myself, so let's make it four and four.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Sure.

I have a couple of things with regard to what I was saying about UAPs earlier, Dr. Nemer.

Do you know when the Sky Canada project will be completed and publicly released?

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

Yes. We have provided timelines for this. We're about to start drafting the report, while continuing to gather information. We should be on track to release the report at the end of summer or in the early fall.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Has your office reviewed the Government of Canada's historical documentation, including previous efforts such as Project Magnet?

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

We have gathered a lot of historical information. I think our report is going to be quite fascinating on the historic front, so stay tuned.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

I'm wondering as well about Nav Canada, which is a receiver of many UAP reports but isn't very transparent. Has the Sky Canada project team sat down with it about how it can release more information for scientific investigations?

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

I'll have to ask my team if they have sat down specifically with NavCan. I cannot answer this, but we have reached out and sat down with many of the folks who collect the information right now.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Have any of the departments or agencies flat out rejected giving you information, based on national security or classification concerns?

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

I don't believe they have rejected giving us information. Sometimes the information is more complete or more cryptic than we'd like it to be, which is why in some cases I will be engaging directly with the deputy ministers to make sure that we have the information we need.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Has the Sky Canada project spoken with the American UAP office about how it scientifically investigates evidence, such as through using video and radar? If so, what has it learned?

[Dr. Mona Nemer]

We have spoken with several American counterparts, including at the Galileo Project that I mentioned earlier. They're looking at this scientifically with some of the NASA people. I've spoken with the chief scientist at NASA and with many other individuals who are part of the very active work on UAP in the U.S.

I think we've been quite well connected, but we're also connected with the Europeans—the French agencies—as well.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Have you yourself had any discussions with the government UAP office in the United States?