Wpg Free Press: Federal science policy decried

Professor Peter Blunden, physics and astronomy, gave comment to the Winnipeg Free Press for a story about research funding. Blunden was part of a panel discussion on March 19.

As the article begins:

Manitoba already gets less than its fair share of federal research cash, so Ottawa’s stingy new science policy could hit the province particularly hard, a panel of local academics said Wednesday night.

That financial reality, coupled with the muzzling of federal experts and cuts to politically touchy research on climate and water quality, suggest a dangerous trend, the academics said.

“My concern is mostly with the effect on young scientists,” said Peter Blunden, a University of Manitoba physicist. “These are good scientists who are now unable to train graduate students. It’s like a lost generation of scientists.”