Science doesn’t usually get a lot of attention during elections, and we think that needs to change. That’s why on August 8th 2019, we launched a national non-partisan Vote Science campaign – in collaboration with Evidence for Democracy and the Science & Policy Exchange – to advocate for science in the federal elections. We also assembled a Vote Science portal with the tools (including a toolkit on how to engage with candidates, and potential questions to ask) you’ll need to #VoteScience!
On 27 August 2019, alongside the Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience) and the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences (CSMB), we hosted Let’s #VoteScience, a panel to talk about how and why scientists can advocate for science in the upcoming federal election. Here’s a recap of the event.
Curious about how the #VoteScience campaign went? We wrote about it in an editorial at the Canadian Science Policy Centre:
“…our #VoteScience portal received over 3,600 visitors, including 600 visitors who used our email form to reach out directly to their local candidates. Collectively, we took #VoteScience selfies, distributed postcards to supporters across Canada, and even wrote postcards to every sitting Member of Parliament (in addition to candidates from all parties in each of our own ridings). Also of note, we distributed a science policy questionnaire to the federal parties, to help better inform Canadians about where the federal parties stand on relevant science issues, and received responses from all but one party. We’ve also advocated for science through various media outlets, including commenting for articles appearing in The Narwhal and Nature News, and penning op-eds for outlets such as the National Observer, University Affairs, Le Devoir, and Découvrir.”
Toronto Science Policy Network 