{"id":36807,"date":"2024-04-27T10:19:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-27T10:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/27\/alberta-draws-academia-into-its-fight-with-justin-trudeau\/"},"modified":"2024-04-27T10:19:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T10:19:43","slug":"alberta-draws-academia-into-its-fight-with-justin-trudeau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/27\/alberta-draws-academia-into-its-fight-with-justin-trudeau\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta Draws Academia Into Its Fight With Justin Trudeau"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/27\/world\/27canadaletter-Smith\/27canadaletter-Smith-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Alberta Draws Academia Into Its Fight With Justin Trudeau\" title=\"Alberta Draws Academia Into Its Fight With Justin Trudeau\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Federal funding promises can shape how much, or how fast, provinces advance their own agenda items, and Alberta wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to know that his to-do list will have to wait.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Premier Danielle Smith announced that the province would take steps, through a bill introduced this month, to reinforce the work that she contends is most important to Albertans and to her United Conservative Party government. This latest attempt to square off with the federal government in Ottawa continues to deepen her party\u2019s view that Mr. Trudeau, a Liberal, has thrust his ideological agenda onto Albertans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAlbertans don\u2019t want federal funding to show the world how virtuous we are, or to polish Canada\u2019s halo internationally,\u201d Ms. Smith said at a news conference on April 10. \u201cAfter all, a lot of that money came from hardworking Alberta taxpayers in the first place, but this federal government has not let reality get in the way of a good headline, and never missed an opportunity to grab more control from the provinces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">[<em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">Read Ian Austen\u2019s article from 2022: <\/em><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/12\/25\/world\/canada\/canada-alberta-danielle-smith.html\" title=\"\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">Conservatives in Western Canada Pass Law Rejecting Federal Sovereignty<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The bill, called the Provincial Priorities Act, would essentially make the Albertan government an arbiter on federal funding deals, with the power to invalidate agreements that its municipalities and health agencies, for example, make with Ottawa. Consultations on the bill are planned for this summer, and it is expected to take effect in early 2025, the government has said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Postsecondary institutions are also covered by the proposed legislation, raising alarm at university administrations that the government might impede academic freedoms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Rajan Sawhney, the minister of advanced education, was not present to take questions at the news conference announcing the bill and has largely been silent on the issue. But Ms. Smith offered some insight behind the government\u2019s thinking on the CBC program \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/listen\/live-radio\/1-123-power-and-politics\/clip\/16055944-liberals-pledge-build-3.9m-homes-2031\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Power &amp; Politics<\/a>,\u201d saying that there wasn\u2019t enough \u201cbalance\u201d on university campuses and that she intended to complete a review of federal research grants to assess gaps. She zeroed in on journalism schools and her thoughts that not enough conservative journalists and commentators have come out of those programs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI have been given enough indication that the federal government uses its power through researchers to only fund certain types of opinions, certain types of researchers, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s fair,\u201d she said, adding that it could mean that Alberta uses some of its \u201cown spending power\u201d to support that research.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But colleges and universities in Alberta have seen years of staggering financial cuts that have created a postsecondary education system \u201con life support,\u201d the University of Calgary Students\u2019 Union said in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.su.ucalgary.ca\/2024\/budget-2024-indirectly-cuts-post-secondary-leaves-student-talent-on-the-table\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">response<\/a> to the provincial budget, which was released in February.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Bill Flanagan, president of the University of Alberta, said in a statement that he and other postsecondary partners would be using the bill\u2019s consultation period to push for \u201ctargeted exemptions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Federal research grants are adjudicated by independent panels of peers, and grants are allocated by three main agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Daniel Paul O\u2019Donnell, president of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations and an English professor at the University of Lethbridge, has sat on some of those committees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere is a danger that people will self-censor in order to make sure that they make it through the bureaucrats in Alberta,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He told me about the strict process behind each application review, and the various criteria, such as the qualifications of the researcher and the capacity of the university to support the research, that drive grant approval decisions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt would be unethical to create a research question in order to ensure you get funding by matching the provincial government\u2019s interests,\u201d Professor O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-b4a7c02\">Trans Canada<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<hr class=\"css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">Vjosa Isai is a reporter and researcher for The New York Times in Toronto.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">How are we doing?<\/strong><br \/>We\u2019re eager to have your thoughts about this newsletter and events in Canada in general. Please send them to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/27\/world\/canada\/mailto:nytcanada@nytimes.com?%20subject=Canada%20Letter%20Newsletter%20Feedback\" title=\"\">nytcanada@nytimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Like this email?<\/strong><br \/>Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters\/canada-letter?smid=nytemail&amp;smvar=canadaletter&amp;te=1&amp;nl=canada-today&amp;emc=edit_cnda_20190622\" title=\"\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/27\/world\/canada\/alberta-canada-danielle-smith-trudeau.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal funding promises can shape how much, or how fast, provinces advance their own agenda items, and Alberta wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to know that his to-do list will have to wait. Premier Danielle Smith announced that the province would take steps, through a bill introduced this month, to reinforce the work that she [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/27\/world\/27canadaletter-Smith\/27canadaletter-Smith-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[39697,6367,12369,4822,8510,17035],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36809,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36807\/revisions\/36809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}