Media Release
For Immediate Release
February 21, 2002
Federation President Welcomes Trudeau Foundation
(OTTAWA) - Today, the President of the Humanities and Social
Sciences Federation of Canada said she was delighted to
see that the government had taken a bold first step in putting
the Innovation White Papers into action with the announcement
of the new Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation for Advanced
Research in the Humanities and Human Sciences.
"We are very pleased to see that today the government has
recognized both symbolically and financially the profound importance
the humanities and social sciences research community plays
in Innovation in Canada," said Federation President Dr.
Patricia Clements. "This is a forward-looking initiative;
an excellent investment in the future of Canadians; and it comes
at a moment of need."
In August 2001, the Federation presented a three part plan to
the Prime Minister entitled The CGRF (Canadian Graduate Research
Fellowships) which called for the Recruitment, Retention,
and Recognition of Humanities and Social Science Professors
for Canadian universities. "Today's announcement addresses
the concerns raised in that document. The Prime Minister and
the new Industry Minister listened to our concerns and have
acted on an important issue. We applaud them for this,"
said Clements.
"The Federation looks forward to working in partnership
with the government and participating in the regional consultations
that will be organized to solicit feedback from the research
community and other sectors on the Innovation White Papers
prior to the National Summit in the fall of 2002."
The Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada represents
68 learned societies, 69 universities and colleges and over
24,000 researchers. It also manages the permanent secretariat
of the Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities
which is the largest academic gathering of its kind in North
America and administers the Aid to Scholarly Publications
Programme.
For further information, please contact:
Douglas Lauriault
Director -- Public Affairs
Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada
(613) 238-6112 ext. 306
