The Moderna Vaccine facility in Laval, Que. Canada has a golden opportunity to build up and adequately support our current bioscience-related research capabilities.ROGER LEMOYNE/The Globe and Mail

John Bergeron is the emeritus Robert Reford professor and a professor of medicine at McGill University. Kathleen Dickson is a former chief technician from the Montreal Neurological Institute. Dr. Stanley Kutcher is professor emeritus in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University and an independent Senator for Nova Scotia.

The present chaotic geopolitical and economic environment has changed Canada. Our Prime Minister has outlined a series of national projects deemed essential in both helping transform Canada into a global economic leader, and mitigating economic threats from the United States.

However, we note that this initiative has so far ignored one of the most essential components that drives improved health and wealth in Canada: investment in research, and the subsequent development of health-related products arising from the discoveries made.

A “discovery and innovation national project” supporting Canada’s discovery research would foster our own scientific talent and help reverse our decades-long “brain drain.” This project, which would attract international talent, is critical. In concert with the threat of Canada’s annexation, the current U.S. administration has attacked science, and America’s own scientists, by dismantling its scientific agencies and programs, leading to an increasing exodus of U.S. research talent.........

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