At 1:30pm on Tuesday, February 18, 2003, I entered the budget lock-up in the West Block of the House of Commons. I was one of only a dozen people in the room when Finance officials started distributing copies of Budget 2003. I quickly opened my copy of the 389 page document and spotted a section entitled “Strengthening Research and Innovation”. Turning to page129, I read with great excitement that not only had we secured funding for astronomy, ALMA and EVLA were specifically mentioned and astronomy had become a specific line item in the budget and in the Minister’s speech.
The Coalition for Canadian Astronomy was created almost three years ago with a very specific mandate – secure money to implement the LRP. Today, we can report the effort to do so is well on its way.
For the past three years, the Coalition has met with Members of Parliament and Senators of all political stripes, appeared before Commons Committees on Industry and Finance, and met with officials at the departments of Finance and Industry Canada. The coordinated efforts have paid off for two simple reasons: unity and clarity.
Unity. Unlike other groups asking the government to support their initiatives (including some Premiers) we spoke to government with a unified voice. Astronomers, researchers, universities and the private sector worked as one voice in support of the LRP. This ensured MPs and decision-makers in Ottawa knew that supporting the LRP did not require that they make a choice between one project or another. It meant supporting an entire community’s priority, and it made their choice easier to take.
Clarity. Unlike many proposals competing for federal funding, the LRP was clear, achievable, and costed. It set forth a vision for Canada’s role on the world stage and articulated the benefits of implementing the vision. It also meant MPs and decision-makers didn’t have to choose between one project or another. It meant endorsing the LRP supported an entire Canadian scientific discipline, a unified voice for our future in world astronomy.
Let me say this was no easy task. And, as we seek support for the rest of the LRP it will be equally as daunting. However, without the unity of the community or the clarity of the LRP, it would be unlikely we could celebrate our success today.
Many of you wrote letters and met with your local MP. Your efforts greatly contributed to elevating the importance to which MPs attach to astronomy and the LRP.
As we begin work on ALMA and EVLA and advance the development of VLOT, we must be diligent in communicating the milestones of our work to the government and those that supported us. We should use this time to remind them why they supported our cause and we should continue to arm them with reasons for supporting us again in the future.
The lobby for support of the LRP is a good case study in a persistent and successful grassroots campaign. Let’s keep the key ingredients, unity and clarity, paramount in our minds as we set our sights on securing the balance of funding for the LRP and advancing Canada’s leadership role on the world stage.
Michael Jolliffe
Vice-President, Government Relations,
AMEC
and Co-Chair, Coalition for Canadian Astronomy