Dear Colleagues,
Over the last 24-hours, I have heard from many of you expressing concern about Bill 18, which will require post-secondary institutions across the province to receive provincial approval to obtain federal research grants. Bill 18 has the potential to impact grant funding flowing through the tri-agencies—the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Institute of Health Research, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council—, as well as the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the New Frontiers in Research Fund.
These specific federal agencies contributed approximately $140 million dollars to the UofA in the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Overall, the UofA is the fifth-highest research funded university in Canada with total research funding exceeding $500 million annually. Any threat to our researchers’ ability to compete for these funds threatens our members’ ability to produce high-quality independent original research for the public good.
The AASUA is concerned with the overt politicization of research at post-secondaries across the province that Bill 18 demonstrates. Money from these granting agencies is awarded to UofA researchers after a rigorous national and international peer-review process.There should be no political interference by a provincial or the federal government, or any political party, of grant funding. The public is entitled to research institutions that produce research free of interference by any political party.
The AASUA was not consulted about Bill 18 before it was announced, and we do not yet know the specificities of the regulations that could be associated with this bill. However, I want to assure you that the AASUA is watching the developments associated with this bill closely.
Finally, I want to highlight that it is the obligation of the Board of Governors to defend the institutional autonomy of a leading research and teaching intensive university such as the UofA. Furthermore, we expect the Board of Governors to uphold its contractual obligation to promote and defend the academic freedom of AASUA members.
The AASUA calls on the Board of Governors to actively and publicly engage on this issue, which has caused real alarm across our more than 4,000 members.
Sincerely
Gordon Swaters
AASUA President