Dear Colleagues,

The autumnal equinox finds most of us who are based at universities back in the classroom. Our elected members of government will also reconvene this month for another session of parliament, and the Canadian Coalition for Astronomy is gearing up for the fall campaign for the Long Range Plan for Astronomy. With the economy showing few signs of improvement in the near term, and the new preoccupation of the government with security and the international alliance against terrorism, we will need to be particularly effective in bringing our message to Ottawa. This fall will see much of the legwork done toward establishing the priorities of the next Federal budget. We have continued support for the LRP within Industry Canada, but much remains to be done. Our goal is to ensure that the LRP is funded in the spring budget. The Coalition is scheduled to appear before the House of Common Finance Committee on October 30. I will also meet with the Liberal Economy Caucus earlier in October and with individual Members of Parliament and government officials in Ottawa throughout the fall.

I attended the annual Liberal convention in Edmonton in August, and presented on behalf of CASCA and the Coalition to the Liberal caucus committee on Higher Education and Research, chaired by M.P. Peter Adams. I also had an opportunity to meet with a few M.P.’s personally, including Tony Valeri, the chair of the Liberal Economy Caucus. From both Peter Adams and Tony Valeri, I got the strong message that contact at the constituency level is a very important part of our campaign. Mr. Valeri also pointed out that some M.P.’s hold constituency meetings in the fall to assess local interests for input budget hearings. I will shortly be sending around, by email, a template letter that you can use to contact your local M.P. inquiring about, and inviting yourself to, local budget hearings.

Very significant progress was made last winter and spring in bringing the LRP to a very high level in government, and developing a joint plan between Industry Canada, NRC, the CFI and CASCA for moving forward on the LRP. We are very well positioned as we begin the fall campaign. Nevertheless there are obstacles yet to overcome. Your efforts at the constituency level will be important to help develop a receptive audience when we bring our message to government committees.