By: Dr. Bruce Sells
CFBS Executive Director

The following report documents the activities of CFBS during the recent past that directly or indirectly reflect CFBS' role in "advocacy".

Each Society affiliated with CFBS is asked, in April of each year, to identify their most important issues and to identify a representative for the visits to "decision-makers". A "brief" is prepared which outlines the various issues and is distributed to members of the "advocacy team" and to a number of "decision-makers". Before each visit a briefing session occurs, usually over breakfast, to discuss the approach with the particular MP or senior government official. Following the May Advocacy visits, a summary is prepared and appears on the CFBS website.

To identify issues that need to be addressed, Strategic Planning Sessions were initiated to obtain advice from the broad life sciences community. This year was the third such Strategic Planning Session. Twenty-three individuals attended, comprising representatives from various life science societies, granting councils, Federal Government Institutes and CIHR Institutes. These planning sessions not only allow CFBS to obtain information related to "advocacy" but also to receive comments on what additional services CFBS should provide to the life sciences community and to work effectively and interactively with government, research bodies and CIHR Institutes. A summary of the Third Strategic Planning Session is posted on the CFBS website.

1. May "Lobby Sessions"

i) In preparation for the May 2001"lobby" a brief "Creating a Research Environment " was prepared and distributed to "decision-makers" and representatives of various societies taking part in the various visits. Representatives from eight Societies took part in the "May Lobby" and met with seventeen different individuals. About one-half of these visits were of major importance to the Biomedical Community. A report on the May meetings is available on the CFBS website http://www.cfbs.org/visitDecsMakers.html

ii) For the May 2002 advocacy sessions a brief entitled "The Capacity for Innovation " was prepared. Representative from seven societies/groups met with "decision-makers" from sixteen different departments/ministries/agencies over a four-day period. During these visits one of the common themes was Canada's need for highly qualified personnel over the next decade. Other issues discussed were related to the species at risk legislation and ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

iii) In November of each year CFBS joins with Physics and Chemistry in what has been dubbed "Tri-Council Lobby". Two days are spent in these sessions. Representatives from the biomedical/life sciences societies are invited to participate.

iv) CFBS also participates in other meetings with "decision makers" by virtue of its membership in the Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR). Interaction with this larger group provides CFBS with additional insights into political issues on the Ottawa scene.

2. Invited Editorial

i) The Executive Director was asked to write an article for the publication "Future Health", a newsletter published by the organization -Canadians for Health Research. A copy of the article entitled "Mining for Gold-Building a Future " is on the CFBS website.

3. CFBS Alerts

To keep the CFBS community aware of events a number of CFBS-Alerts were published on our web server to all societies affiliated with CFBS.

4. CFBS' Affiliation with Larger Organizations

i) The Executive Director serves on the steering committee of the Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR): This activity is important to CFBS and its affiliated societies since CCR represents a much larger community of researchers and allows us entry into the finance committee, the PMO's office and other venues that are more difficult to penetrate when smaller numbers of members are being represented. The monthly meeting of the steering committee in addition to monthly general meeting assists CFBS to remain abreast of the political environment in Ottawa. In addition the Executive Director joins with CCR representatives in meetings with "decision-makers". This past year "indirect costs" of research, a high priority for CFBS, was the major thrust of CCR.

ii) The second group to which CFBS belongs, and represents the biomedical/life sciences community, is the Partnership Group in Science and Engineering (PAGSE). The monthly meeting of this influential organization provides CFBS with a different perspective from CCR and again allows CFBS to put forth its issues in a larger forum. CFBS was invited in 2001 to organize the annual PAGSE symposium. This symposium takes place in the West Block of Parliament and is designed to inform MPs and senior government officials of the benefits of research to the Canadian economic and social environment. The CFBS Executive Director chaired the program committee and organized the scientific part of the program. The symposium, that took place in October, was entitled "Research-Key to Canada's Well-Being" and focused on recent developments in Cancer research. Invitations were sent to all Societies to attend.

iii) CFBS is also involved with the Canadian Council for Animal Care (CCAC), as an observer, and monitors actions of CCAC that may have an impact on the life sciences community. The Executive Director attends annual CCAC Board Meetings.

5. Advocacy Issues and Outcomes

i) During the past three years CFBS supported legislation establishing CIHR, directly with representations and letters to various MPs and officials and argued for increased support to cover CIHR's enlarged mandate. In addition, through CCR, representation was made to the appropriate parliamentary committee. We were pleased to see the Government's response to the various groups that advocated this action. Last December's budget saw CIHR's budget increased by $ 75 million.

ii) Support for the indirect costs of research has been a high priority issue for CFBS over the past three years (see articles on CFBS website Mining for Gold-Building a Future and Creating a Research Environment . We were gratified to see it included in the December budget. This will alleviate some of the pressures on University operating budgets and improve the universities' research infrastructure.

iii) NSERC's budget has been a source of concern that we have voiced on many occasions. A 7% increase in last year's budget was welcomed but totally inadequate given the larger demands generated by new faculty recruitment and the changing demographics of University faculty members and other pressures. The September 11 tragedy has had some obvious consequences on research funding.

iv) We are happy to report that CFI continues to receive funding and the Research Chairs Program has been initiated. These programs, although they produce pressures on the granting councils for increased funds, have significantly improved the morale of researchers in this Country.

v) We have great concern over the increase in tuition and other undergraduate expenses and the impact of heavy students debt load on the number of students entering graduate programs. The most recent response to this issue is to increase tax credits to students from $200- $400 /month. This, we believe, is a minimum response and is an issue that we are currently attempting to obtain the statistics required to make a strong well-documented case.

vi) On our agenda as a high priority is university "core-funding". We are working in concert with CCR to develop strategies, involving both Federal and Provincial Governments, that will improve the working environment within universities - a major location of this Country's research effort. Given Canada's need for highly qualified personnel our interaction with "decision-makers" will emphasize the importance of ensuring that our universities attract outstanding academics to educate the next generation of Canadian scientists.

6. Financing CFBS' Ability to Perform its Advocacy Role

To act as an advocate for the biomedical/life science community requires CFBS to have a continuing presence in Ottawa. The presence of an office and staff is, therefore, essential in order to maintain contact with federal policy makers and other knowledgeable individuals. Currently, CFBS employs one full-time staff member and covers expenses for an Executive Director. The yearly running costs of the Ottawa office are approximately $150,000. Since the contributions of the various societies cover about one-half of the expenses, it falls upon the Executive Director and Office Manager to raise the remainder.

The efforts of the last three years have seen a substantial improvement in CFBS' financial position to the point where we are now starting to perform additional functions which our earlier financial situation prevented us from doing.

Our improved financial outlook has improved, in part, because of:

i) A change in format of the Annual Meeting and increased investment in attracting international speakers. This has improved attendance at the CFBS Annual Meetings.

ii) A larger number of companies and organization have acted as sponsors in large part because the meetings are now held in larger conference centres.

iii) An increased number of exhibitors and employers interested in the "Employment Fair" have participated in the Annual Meeting.

iv) An increased number of Life Sciences Societies are now part of CFBS. In 2001 the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology and the Canadian Society of Zoologists became members. Recently, members of the Canadian Society for Immunology voted overwhelmingly to rejoin CFBS.

v) CFBS is becoming a vehicle to help provide some of the "glue" to bring together members of the virtual CIHR Institutes. For example, both the Neurosciences Institute and the Nutrition, Metabolism & Diabetes Institute are involved in the two major themes of this year's Annual Meeting. In addition the Institute for Immunology & Infection is a sponsor of the "Bioterrorism" session.

vi) The ability to attract clinical investigators by providing Continuing Medical Education Credits (CME).

vii) Over the past year the CFBS website has been updated and has become a source of income to help underwrite the costs of running the CFBS office and our advocacy activities.

All these developments help to improve the financial state and CFBS' ability to provide the services that are needed by its Societies and the life sciences research community.

CONCLUSION
These various changes, over the past three years have taken time to achieve and currently we appear to be on track. We anticipate that, through the services that we offer to the Life Sciences Community and the international quality of the Annual Meetings, the positive image of CFBS will continue to grow and provide us with a greater voice in policy development with "decision-makers".