Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the standing committee, for the opportunity to be here today.

My name is Sarah Laframboise, and I'm joining as the executive director of Evidence for Democracy, known as E4D for short.

E4D is a national, non-partisan not-for-profit that works to close the gap between decision-makers like you and the best available science and evidence. We believe that we all benefit when government makes decisions that are informed by the best available science and evidence.

Canada is facing significant challenges—low productivity, climate change and a strained health care system—all requiring evidence-informed policies.

While Canada ranks sixth in higher education research and development expenditure among OECD countries, our overall research and innovation ecosystem lacks coordination, and we risk falling behind without a strategic direction.

As proposed in the 2024 federal budget, the research capstone organization promises to provide better coordination across the federally funded research ecosystem. We echo the recommendations previously made in the 2024 “Report of the Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System” and the 2017 fundamental science review. I believe that if executed with transparency, accountability and community engagement, this new capstone organization could strengthen the very foundation of our science and research ecosystem. Importantly, this organization has the opportunity to lay the foundation for the development of a national strategic vision for the science and research community.

I'd like to share with the committee a set of values that E4D believes to be crucial when taking on the creation of this organization.

First, we believe that prioritizing transparency, accountability and openness will ensure the utmost trust in this organization and its seamless execution. For example, the capstone organization should be sustainably funded, ensuring that we strengthen the foundations of our research ecosystem. Securing the transparent allocation of predictable funding to support the organization's operations, staff and resources will enable long-term success.

There should be an established mechanism to prevent the duplication of efforts and to enable open communication among research entities, promoting efficiency and collaboration.

There should also be a reporting, feedback and collaboration process with ISED and health ministers that is formalized and structured for ongoing communication and coordination with relevant government departments.

A publicly available strategic plan and evaluations should published in annual reports to outline the outcomes and impacts for this new capstone organization.

Next is ensuring that the community continues be involved in the vision and execution of the work of the capstone.

At its core, the new capstone organization should ensure that its work is informed by a representative set of science and technology stakeholders by intentionally establishing government bodies. While a board of directors will likely be composed of representatives from the tri-agencies, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the chief science adviser's office, we see an opportunity for intentional representation on the science and innovation council.

Ensuring that this council has a clearly defined mandate means that the council can play a large role in providing strategic input to guide the priorities and work of the capstone.

Further, this council should have diverse representation from academia, with dedicated representation of trainees, early-career researchers and established investigators, in addition to industry, non-profit organizations, third party organizations and the public sector. Individuals should reflect Canada's diversity and regions, with consideration towards gender, career stage and marginalized communities.

Beyond this, evaluation of research proposals under the capstone should uphold the values of peer review, ensuring that all research proposals are evaluated based on scientific excellence and potential impact.

It should also exist independently, and government structures should be established to protect the organization from political interference, ensuring that decision-making processes are based on scientific merit and integrity.

I look forward to hearing more on the capstone in the upcoming fall economic statement, and we are encouraged by the release of the “what we heard” report based on the public consultations just last week.

I hope that we can continue these conversations through the coming year as more becomes clear about the structures of the capstone organization, and it's my hope that we can continue to move forward in a way that encourages the active participation of researchers and community members.

In summary, I will reiterate that if executed with transparency, accountability and community engagement, the new capstone organization could strengthen the very foundations of our research and science ecosystem and could help Canada unlock the full potential of its ever-growing knowledge asset and talent capacity for the benefit of society at large.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to questions.