For the past decade, Ottawa politicized research funding: Liberal ministers pledged to embed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into research practices while bringing diversity targets to the sector; they even said outright that federal funds would be used to tinker with the demographics within the research ecosystem. And now, in 2024, the House of Commons is finally hearing about it. In October, the science committee kicked off a study on the impact of government funding requirements on Canadian research, and, for once, invited a slate of witnesses who don’t bow to DEI dogma.
The now-widespread practice of requiring researchers to submit statements affirming their commitment to DEI with their applications for jobs and grants incentivizes lying, Prof. Geoff Horsman, a Wilfrid Laurier University biochemist, told the committee in early December . Some grant applications even evaluate socioeconomic and environmental impacts — which is open to the interpretation of those granting the funds.
Prof. Yuan Yi Zhu, an international law professor at the Netherlands’ Leiden University, made a similar point in November, telling the committee that he advises non-progressive students to keep their views to themselves until funding is secured. “Within Canadian academia, there is a monoculture where, if you deviate even very slightly from what is fashionable and what is commonly accepted by your peers, not only will you be ostracized, but often you will not be able to have an acade.
