Creation of a Parliamentary Science Officer
Preamble
WHEREAS Scott Findlay and Paul Dufour, two University of Ottawa professors and experts on science and public policy, coauthored an ipolitics article recommending that Canada establish a national science watchdog modelled after the Parliamentary Budget Officer, to objectively inform the public on the state of scientific knowledge on a range of policy issues and synthesize and evaluate evidence on policy alternatives;
WHEREAS other democracies have their own public-funded scientific watchdogs, including the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the UK’s Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology;
WHEREAS NDP MP Kennedy Stewart has already tabled a private member’s bill to establish a Parliamentary Science Officer, with the specific mandate to assess the state of scientific evidence relevant to any proposal or bill before Parliament, answer requests from committees and individual MPs for unbiased scientific information, conduct independent analysis of federal science and technology policy, raise awareness of scientific issues across government and among Canadians, and encourage coordination between departments and agencies conducting scientific research;
Operative
BE IT RESOLVED that the Green Party of Canada will support the creation of a Parliamentary Science Officer (PSO) modeled after the existing Parliamentary Budget Officer, but with the PSO as an independent office of Parliament.
Background
Ideological politicization of science in the legislative process is a permanent challenge, from public illiteracy on the processes and projections of global warming to infamous muzzling of government scientists on subjects such as fish stock declines. Scientific literacy is potentially underrepresented among politicians, as the Public Policy Forum determined that 4.2% of MPs with post-secondary education hold degrees in the sciences or engineering, compared to 21% of post-secondary graduates in the general population. As such, a science watchdog would be useful in constraining the anti-science practices of all political parties of all ideological stripes.
This motion would fulfill Green Party of Canada values for Ecological Wisdom and Sustainability and improve the pro-science emphasis of the policy platform. Such a policy would likely cost millions of Canadian dollars per year similarly to the current Parliamentary Budget Office.
Code
Proposal Type
Submitter Name
Party Commentary
Preamble
WHEREAS Scott Findlay and Paul Dufour, two University of Ottawa professors and experts on science and public policy, coauthored an ipolitics article recommending that Canada establish a national science watchdog modelled after the Parliamentary Budget Officer, to objectively inform the public on the state of scientific knowledge on a range of policy issues and synthesize and evaluate evidence on policy alternatives;
WHEREAS other democracies have their own public-funded scientific watchdogs, including the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the UK’s Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology;
WHEREAS NDP MP Kennedy Stewart has already tabled a private member’s bill to establish a Parliamentary Science Officer, with the specific mandate to assess the state of scientific evidence relevant to any proposal or bill before Parliament, answer requests from committees and individual MPs for unbiased scientific information, conduct independent analysis of federal science and technology policy, raise awareness of scientific issues across government and among Canadians, and encourage coordination between departments and agencies conducting scientific research;
Operative
BE IT RESOLVED that the Green Party of Canada will support the creation of a Parliamentary Science Officer (PSO) modeled after the existing Parliamentary Budget Officer, but with the PSO as an independent office of Parliament.
Sponsors
Background
Ideological politicization of science in the legislative process is a permanent challenge, from public illiteracy on the processes and projections of global warming to infamous muzzling of government scientists on subjects such as fish stock declines. Scientific literacy is potentially underrepresented among politicians, as the Public Policy Forum determined that 4.2% of MPs with post-secondary education hold degrees in the sciences or engineering, compared to 21% of post-secondary graduates in the general population. As such, a science watchdog would be useful in constraining the anti-science practices of all political parties of all ideological stripes.
This motion would fulfill Green Party of Canada values for Ecological Wisdom and Sustainability and improve the pro-science emphasis of the policy platform. Such a policy would likely cost millions of Canadian dollars per year similarly to the current Parliamentary Budget Office.
Party Commentary