The 4th Edition of Science Meets Parliament Program (SMP 2024) is now complete and was a huge success!
47 researchers from across Canada met one-on-one with 59 Parliamentarians, in 118 one-on-one meetings at Parliament Hill in Ottawa May 6-7, 2024. Delegates also attended Committees and Question Periods in both the Senate and the House of Commons.
The program also included eight training sessions centered on science policy, government structure and policy making, science communication and EDI in science, among others.
Overall, this unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience changed the ways that participating scientists think about parliament and pointed out the numerous ways that one can connect with parliamentarians – on the hill or in their ridings in the future. Science Meets Parliament is not an advocacy program – it is for strengthening the connections and mutual understanding between scientific and political communities.
This event was organized by CSPC and Canada’s Chief Science Advisor Mona Nemer, supported by Speaker of the House of Commons Hon. Greg Fergus and championed by the Honourable Members of the Parliament Honourable Lena Metlege Diab,QC, Matt Jeneroux, Maxime Blanchette-Joncas and Mike Morrice as well as by Senators Hon. Judith Seidman, Rosa Galvez, and Stan Kutcher.
This program would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors: the Royal Military College of Canada, The Stem Cell Network, and the University of British Columbia.
Previous iterations of the program can be found here.
Special thanks to our sponsors
Thank you to our 2021 sponsors:
The objective of this initiative is to strengthen the connections between Canada’s scientific and political communities, enable a two-way dialogue, and promote mutual understanding. This initiative aims to help scientists become familiar with policy making at the political level, and for parliamentarians to explore using scientific evidence in policy making. This initiative is not meant to be an advocacy exercise, and will not include any discussion of science funding or other forms of advocacy.
The Science Meets Parliament model is adapted from the successful Australian program held annually since 1999. Similar initiatives exist in the EU, the UK and Spain.
CSPC’s program aims to benefit the parliamentarians, the scientific community and, indirectly, the Canadian public.
Science Meets Parliament 2023
Orientation video
Eligibility
The program will be available to three groups of researchers:
Program
The Science Meets Parliament 2024 program will include:
Survey Data
Delegates represent a diverse cross-section of the Canadian scientific community
Francophone
Visible minorities
Indigenous
Living with disability
Delegates overwhelmingly recommend the experience to others
The program has been a great success, receiving positive feedback from both Science Meets Parliament delegates and participating Parliamentarians.
Here is what delegates had to say:
“This is a valuable eye-opening experience for scientists to learn about current issues, the legislative process, and most importantly, to get to know the MPs.”
– delegate
“My ability to connect with parliamentarians and policy-makers and move my research into policy channels has never before felt so possible.”
– delegate
If you have any questions about the program, please contact us at sciencemeetsparliament@ sciencepolicy.ca
Here is what delegates had to say
“This is a valuable eye-opening experience for scientists to learn about current issues, the legislative process, and most importantly, to get to know the MPs.”
– delegate
“My ability to connect with parliamentarians and policy-makers and move my research into policy channels has never before felt so possible.”
– delegate