Humanist Perspectives: The SSHRC and Intelligent Design

contact information for the SSHRC

The SSHRC and Intelligent Design

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is Canada’s second largest government agency giving research grants to universities. Its budget for 2006 is $306,000,000.

SSHRC prides itself on its peer review process used in assessing grant applications. One of these committees (members listed with the attached contact information) rejected an application by Dr Brian Alters, Head of the Evolution Education Research Centre at McGill University in Montreal. The rejection was not the reason for concern. But an accompanying statement, still not repudiated after several months, has caused international concern.

The offending statement was: “Nor did the committee consider that there was adequate justification for the assumption in the proposal that the theory of Evolution, and not Intelligent Design Theory, was correct.”

Despite widespread concern expressed by the Canadian and international science community, and numerous requests that the statement be repudiated, SSHRC officials (when they have responded at all) merely state that they support the theory of evolution, and that Alters could have appealed the rejection. Both of these miss the point, as has been repeatedly indicated to them. What worries Dr Alters, and the rest of us who are concerned, is that a major public agency, giving money for science education research (among other things), has gone on record equating ID with evolution. And they refuse to make any further statement about ID, suggesting that there is much more to this than a simple mistake, which could have been corrected and then no one would have had further concerns. We are left to believe that the agency agrees with the committee statement.

Humanist Perspectives magazine, published for 40 years in Canada (and formerly called Humanist in Canada) has provided extensive coverage of this matter. The following are links to the four issues of Humanist Perspectives containing articles and letters about the SSHRC affair, followed by a link to a PDF compiling the SSHRC articles from all four issues:

We will continue to report on this matter until there is some sort of satisfactory response from SSHRC, such as a public acknowledgement that ID is a religious, not a scientific concept. If they continue to refuse to do so we are going to urge that funds for research in areas such as science education be turned over to the National Science and Engineering Research Council, Canada’s largest granting agency, and one which is able to distinguish between science and pseudoscience. There has been some interest in this idea from various quarters.

We urge concerned people to write to any or all of the people listed below. We’d appreciate getting copies of any messages you send.

Officials responsible for SSHRC

Dr Arthur Carty PhD, OC, National Science Advisor
room 728, 85 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A3
scienceinfo@pco-bcp.gc.ca

Part of the mandate of the National Science Advisor in Canada is: “to help convey to the world that we are a scientifically and technologically sophisticated nation.” To our knowledge Dr Carty has not, to date, responded to many letters sent to him, over several months, even though the actions of SSHRC have sent a message to the world that Canada is a scientifically backward nation.

The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry
5th Floor, West Tower
CD Howe Building
235 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H5
Minister.Industry@ic.gc.ca

This is the Canadian Ministry responsible for SSHRC. Bernier’s office has responded but has given no sign that it understands the issue.

Janet E Halliwell, Executive Vice-President
and Chief Operating Officer, SSHRC
350 Albert Street
PO Box 1610
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 6G4
janet.halliwell@sshrc.ca

Halliwell has responded to a number of queries, but refuses to address the central question, which concerns SSHRC’s refusal to withdraw or repudiate its Committee statement equating intelligent design with evolution.

Dr Chad Gaffield, President, SSHRC
350 Albert Street
PO Box 1610
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 6G4
chad.gaffield@sshrc.ca

Chad Gaffield recently took over from previous President Stan Shapson, who now is Vice-President.

SSHRC Committee members

Dr Susan Bennett, Department of English
University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, Alberta
T2N 1N4
sbennett@ucalgary.ca

Dr Bennett was Chair of the Committee responsible for the offending statement. We have written to her a number of times asking for comment, but so far, to our knowledge, she has not responded to any queries. As we said in one letter to her, it would seem as though she has a responsibility to speak up on this issue.

Dr Lawrence F Felt, Deptartment of Sociology
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John’s, Newfoundland
A1C 5S7
lfelt@mun.ca

Dr Felt has made some responses, some of which are reported in the magazine article.

Professor Ruby Heap, Associate Dean, Deptartment of History
Gaston Heon House
155 Seraphin marion, room 165
University of Ottawa
Ottawa Ontario
K1N 6N5
rheap@uottawa.ca

No response to our queries

Gilbert Larochelle, Département des sciences humaines
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
555, boulevard de l’Universite
Chicoutimi, Quebec
G7H 2B1
Gilbert_Larochelle@uqac.ca

No response to our queries

Madame Ruth Rose, Institut de recherches
et d’études féministes
Département des sciences économiques
Université du Québec à Montréal
Case postale 8888
succursale Centre-ville
Montréal, Québec
H3C 3P8
rose-lizee.ruth@uqam.ca

Madame Rose is the one person connected with SSHRC who has, on a response to our query, distanced herself from intelligent design.

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