Evidence-Based Decision-Making in Canada: What’s Happened, why it Matters, and what we can do? (Part 1)

Over the past decade, Canadians have witnessed an erosion of our national capacity for evidence-based decision-making. Apparent in communications restrictions on government scientists, funding cuts focused on public interest research, and a diminished role for evidence in policy decisions, this erosion threatens both our well-being as citizens and the health of our democracy. Evidence for Democracy, a national non-partisan, non-profit organization, has emerged as part of efforts to make the case for evidence-based decision-making. This presentation will lay out what’s happened in Canada and explain why we should be concerned. It will explain how Evidence for Democracy is responding and suggest ways we can all work to restore evidence-based decision-making in Canada. Speaker: Dr. Shannon Stunden Bower Shannon Stunden Bower is an assistant professor in the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta. She is a board member with Evidence for Democracy, a national non-partisan, non-profit organization promoting public-interest science and evidence-based decision-making in Canada. From 2012 to 2014, Studen Bower was the research director at the Parkland Institute, a public policy research institute affiliated with the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta. Stunden Bower has published numerous public policy research reports and academic articles, as well as a scholarly monograph. Her primary research interests lie in the environmental history of the prairie west. Moderator: Susan Giffen Date: Thursday, October 1, 2015 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM (30 minutes each for presentation, lunch and Q & A) Location: Country Kitchen Catering (lower level of the Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost:$11.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (includes coffee/tea at the presentation)