Canada's scientific community is concerned about the Conservative government's commitment to scientific research after seeing no new funding for Genome Canada included in the federal budget.
Genome Canada is a non-profit organization that employs more than 2,000 people who conduct research in various scientific areas including genomics and stem cells.
The organization supports 33 major research projects and acts as a major funding partner for many medical and genetic researchers in Canada.
According to the Genome Canada website, the organization has received $840 million in federal funding since it was launched nine years ago and has secured $1 billion from other private and public organizations over the same period of time.
But it didn't get any money from the government in Tuesday's budget.
McGill University professor Ken Dewar says it is "scary and worrisome" for scientists to see a lack of new funding and not to understand why they were left out of the budget.
"I guess, two days after the budget we don't really know if it's a snub," he told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.
"I think everyone's just feeling their way through it. It's certainly scary and worrisome," he added.
Dewar said Canadian scientists need consistent, steady funding to make progress on major scientific issues and problems.
"Research isn't like a tap that you can turn on and off," he said.
"We need to be working towards something that's sustainable so that we can be dealing with the difficult problems we have."
Brain drain?
When asked if funding restrictions could conceivably send Canadian scientists packing, Dewar said he is already fielding phone calls from people "saying they're hiring and they're looking for people with good CVs."
University of Calgary neurobiologist Samuel Weiss told the Globe and Mail that Canada "could start losing the best and brightest" if it doesn't provide enough funding for its scientists to thrive in their research.
Research Canada chair Michael Julius said Canadian scientists spend more than half of their time applying for grants, which takes away from their research time.
If this keep up, Canada will inevitably lose some of its top talent, he said.
"The best and the brightest are extremely mobile and they will follow the money," he told The Canadian Press.
/>Parliament debate
The Genome Canada issue was raised in the House of Commons on Thursday when Liberal Industry, Science and Technology Critic Marc Garneau pressed Minister of State for Science and Technology Minister Gary Goodyear about the reason for not including any new funding for the Ottawa-based organization.
Garneau questioned if the government was "deliberately undermining Canada's scientists or...just simply forgotten to fund their future work?"
Goodyear responded by saying the Conservative government has committed to funding Genome Canada until 2013 and that their funding will not be changed under the current budget.
He said the government knows "Genome Canada is good for Canada and the good work they do is good for Canadians' health."
While Dewar acknowledged that existing funding from the government was still flowing to Genome Canada, he said the lack of new funding was "a very confusing message from the government."
With files from The Canadian Press
