Parliamentary committee revises order to share federal grant applicant data

Ardath Whynacht, an associate professor of sociology at Mount Allison University, is seen in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Samson Photography (Mandatory Credit)

A parliamentary committee has amended a controversial order that seeks 25 years’ worth of data on researchers who applied for health and science grants.

The Standing Committee on Health and Research had originally sought details on student and faculty applications to three agencies between 2000 and 2025 but now says it will accept anonymized, high-level data that better preserves privacy.

The motion seeks information collected by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which each doles out millions in annual funding.

Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed put forward the amended motion Wednesday, saying it would have cost more than $4 million to fulfil the previous, more granular order.

An open letter signed by more than 5,000 researchers had objected to that earlier request, calling it a targeted attack on equity, diversity and inclusivity in health and science research.

Ardath Whynacht, an associate professor of sociology at Mount Allison University, says she is relieved by the amendment but suspects it was driven by cost concerns instead of ethical or legal reasons.

“The original motion revealed that many MPs have a cavalier attitude about violating Canadian’s right to privacy when they want to engage in political witch hunts,” Whynacht said.

The order seeks information that includes applicant demographics and responses to EDI questionnaires, as well as information on evaluation committee members and their comments, opinions, scores and how much they awarded applicants.

In Wednesday’s meeting, Bloc Quebecois MP Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, vice president of the committee, said he understood fears among some researchers that the data could be politicized.

But he told the committee the data was needed to better understand how federal funding councils award grants in Canada.

“It’s absolutely crucial to be able to determine how the program funding is being allocated and what political choices are being made,” Blanchette-Joncas said at the meeting, a video recording of which is available on a parliamentary website.

The committee agreed to remove the request for “disaggregate” data and replaced it with a request for “aggregated and anonymized” data, which is a broader, high-level overview.

Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press