Mr. Speaker, at this late hour I am pleased to have the opportunity to return to a question that I raised on March 21, when my colleague from Burnaby—Douglas and I condemned the Conservatives' war against science. The previous day, the entire Conservative caucus had voted against an NDP motion to defend publicly funded, basic scientific research.
I think it is worthwhile for me to read the motion in order to show that the Conservatives acted in bad faith when they voted against science. The motion stated:
That, in the opinion of the House: (a) public science, basic research and the free and open exchange of scientific information are essential to evidence-based policy-making; (b) federal government scientists must be enabled to discuss openly their findings with their colleagues and the public; and (c) the federal government should maintain support for its basic scientific capacity across Canada, including immediately extending funding, until a new operator is found, to the world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area Research Facility to pursue its unique research program.
As you can see, it was not a bad motion, yet the Conservatives voted against it.
Several things have changed since we debated this motion two months ago. For example, I am pleased to note that the Experimental Lakes Area research station has resumed its activities following an eleventh-hour intervention by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Also, in May, the Conservative government confirmed that it wanted the NRC to orient its priorities toward the needs of private companies. No more basic research at the NRC. No more magnetic resonance research.
I should note that the Conservative government's decision to change tack and direct its investments toward commercial applications is contrary to the strategy adopted by champions of innovation.
I went to Washington last April to meet with senior American science policy officials. I found that they want to achieve a balanced approach. They believe that basic research and the social sciences are no less important than applied sciences. I read an interesting speech by President Obama on the subject. I would like to quote from that speech.
One of the things I have tried to do over the past four years and will continue to do over the next four years is to make sure that we are promoting the integrity of our scientific process, that not just in the physical and life sciences, but also in fields like psychology and anthropology and economics and political science—all of which are sciences because scholars develop and test hypotheses and subject them to peer review—but in all the sciences, we have got to make sure that we are supporting the idea that they are not subject to politics, that they're not skewed by an agenda, that, as I said before, we make sure that we go where evidence leads us. That's why we've got to keep investing in these sciences.
Since science exists in a world without borders, and since the Americans are our primary partners in science and innovation, I hope that the Conservative government will heed this call for wisdom and adopt a more balanced approach. The Science, Technology and Innovation Council released a report stating that, even though Canada ranked 16th in investment and research in 2005, it had fallen to 23rd place by 2011. That is the Conservatives' record on science and technology.