Evidence of meeting #28 for Science and Research in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was data.
A video is available from Parliament.
President, National Research Council of Canada
We do get good use of that facility. It has in fact made use of the roof. The designer of the building is a Laboratories Canada project to create a collaboration centre for advanced materials research, which now is working on creating material processes—
President, National Research Council of Canada
—to get the benefit from Canada's critical material wealth—
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
I'll move on to another topic.
My next set of questions is for the chief science adviser.
In your earlier testimony, you referred to the January 2026 decision by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada that announced the closure of seven research facilities nationwide, including three research centres and four satellite research farms, and the firing of 600 staff and scientists. Just to confirm, you were not consulted on or notified about this decision prior to the shutting down of these facilities.
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
No, I was not.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
How do you feel about that? Do you think you should be consulted, as the chief science adviser?
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
Very simply speaking, yes, I would love to have been consulted. Recognizing the fiscal pressures and everything, I think having a horizontal view of which activities are being done, and where, in government can perhaps help streamline and perhaps maintain certain activities at a lesser cost or do something else about it.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
You're saying that your opinion would have mattered had you been consulted before that firing. You're the chief science adviser. If we're firing hundreds of scientists, it would be incumbent on the government—the Liberal government, which made the decision—to consult you before making that decision.
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
I don't know if it would have made a difference, but I think it would have been useful to consult someone who's sort of independent, who's not conflicted and who understands —
Conservative
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
—whether the actions are consistent with the objectives.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
Do you think shutting these facilities would affect our agricultural competitiveness at all?
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
Unfortunately, I can't comment, because I don't have the entire file. These decisions were made by the department after analysis. I don't have the analysis.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you.
We will now proceed to MP Noormohamed for five minutes.
Please go ahead.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
I'd like to start with you, Dr. Nemer, with regard to the interesting conversation here about the research institutes that were closed. There was a study on benchmarking Canadian retail beef flavour for close to $300,000 at one of those institutes. Can you give me a very short snippet of why understanding the flavour of beef at one of these research institutes that my friend is concerned about would be so essential to the scientific framework of this country?
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
Unfortunately, I can't give you a scientific answer, because I'm not aware of the file.
I can tell you whether or not I like beef, which....
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
That isn't how I make my decisions.
We've heard a lot about the lost decade of science in government when the Harper Conservatives were in power. There are numerous studies about how scientists were muzzled. Scientists in the public service were muzzled and consistently told they couldn't speak publicly. Are you aware of that era in government?
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
I am aware of the past 20 or 30 years, having been in science for that long. One of the first things I did when I joined government in this role was to develop a science integrity policy that allows government researchers to speak freely about their work.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
When did you take on this role—just for everyone's benefit?
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
It was on September 27, 2017.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
It was in 2017.
You've only been in this role under Liberal governments. Is that correct?
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
That's correct.
Liberal
Chief Science Advisor of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada
No.