The Free Press: Nation building needs research — not just infrastructure
As written in the Free Press by Dr. Mario Pinto, Vice-president Research and International at the University of Manitoba.
Living through the second Trump administration as a Canadian has been likened, by one commentator, to a teenager being kicked out of the house. We must grow up fast and deal with the fact that we can now only rely on ourselves. So, the federal government is moving fast on files related to security, sovereignty and connectivity. The Liberals passed Bill C-5 to expedite projects that will help Canadians live on our own. Wonderful.
But.
In our rush forward, we cannot overlook the power of nation-building research, which must go hand-in-glove with these infrastructure projects. Research and infrastructure are not competing priorities: they are essential partners in nation-building.
Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act, grants the federal government sweeping powers to quickly build large projects that help goods move faster and more easily. This act intends to strengthen our security, autonomy, resilience and advance the interests of Indigenous Peoples. But there can be no nation-building without nation-building research.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has prioritized a project to enhance the Port of Churchill in Hudson Bay. A developed Hudson Bay region can open a stable and sustainable global supply-chain hub, bringing with it transformative socioeconomic change. But research funding is needed to bolster and protect this investment, our rare deepwater Arctic port risks falling short of its potential, or, worse, causes harm to the communities it aims to serve.
Read the full article here.
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.