As part of our advocacy for increased research funding by the federal government, we are writing to invite you to contact elected officials to highlight the importance of the Canadian government’s support of Science and Research.
We suggest you reach out to
- Your local Member of Parliament
- The Prime Minister
- The Minister of Health
- The Minister of Finances
The objective of your letter should be to show the importance that funding from the federal government has for scientists across the country, and for the health and well-being of all Canadians, and to encourage the government to continue and to increase this support.
If you write to your MP, make sure to mention you are a constituent – MPs pay more attention to message from their riding.
We have drafted a short template letter that you can use and personalize. It is copied below. We also invite you to reach out through social media.
If you do reach out to your MP or any Minister, we would love to know, and to offer you a free drink at the next CAN social, if you are attending. Get in touch with us! advocacy@can-acn.org
Contact information (updated 2021-07-30)
Prime Minister: justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca
Minister of Health: Patty.Hajdu@parl.gc.ca
Minister of Finances: Chrystia.Freeland@parl.gc.ca
your MP: firstname.lastname@parl.gc.ca
You can find your MP’s name with your postal code here:
https://www.ourcommons.ca/Parliamentarians/en/constituencies/FindMP
or through social media
https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau
https://twitter.com/PattyHajdu
https://twitter.com/cafreeland
You can find your local MP’s social media account here:
https://openparliament.ca/
Consider including a selfie! Ref: Using selfies to challenge public stereotypes of scientists https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0216625
or by regular mail (no postage required)
Name of the MP/Minister
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Proposed template letter
Re: Funding thank you letter to the Canadian Government (to be personalized – Note – if you applied and were not successful, your story/letter is also important)
Dear Mr. Full Name,
My name is (Full name) and I do research on (short description, no jargon) at (institution) in (riding or city name). I was recently awarded a research grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). As a constituent and a scientist, I am writing to thank you for the support the Canadian government is providing for the research in my laboratory, and to remind you that research funded by the three federal granting councils of Canada, CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC plays a vital role in keeping Canada healthy, innovative and driving the Canadian economy.
[Describe your research in a short paragraph] [State the impacts you have seen as a result of your research or how you have connected with patients/families in your research]While my application was successful in this competition, I note that the success rate for this competition was only (XX%). Such low success rates mean that many excellent projects will remain unfunded, and I therefore encourage you to support important re-investment in fundamental research in Canada.
[Describe how research funding from the federal government is important to you and how it affects your work. If appropriate, you can also use the section below.]Fundamental research funding directly employs tens of thousands of highly qualified staff and students in good, middle-class jobs and provides students with a reliable path to join the middle class. In my lab alone, I employ:
### technicians or research associates
### postdoctoral fellows
### graduate students
### undergraduate students
Fundamental research, supported by Canada’s federal granting councils, is the key to finding new technologies, cures and solutions for the challenges Canadians face today. I encourage you to support increased funding of scientific research in Canada. It is an investment in Canada’s future.
Yours sincerely,
(your full name) (your title, institution)
(your physical address – to prove constituency)
(your email address and phone number)
