Experts inside and outside of government are essential to a healthy democracy. Public policy should be based on the best evidence available, and that capacity is being severely hampered by the federal government’s announcement in the fall 2025 budget that it plans to eliminate 40,000 position between 2024 and 2028. This affects a wide array of the public service although it is unclear exactly where all those cuts will be.
Within Agriculture Canada alone, seven research sites are to be closed. A report from the House of Commons Standing Committee On Agriculture and Agri-Food has already recommended that these closures be reversed.
I am an insect taxonomist—a scientist who specializes in midges, describing species and interpreting their evolutionary relationships (vital for good classifications and interpreting most biological phenomena). I have worked independently since 1989 and hence can speak to these issues. Federal scientists are, unfortunately, forbidden from doing so.
First some background. The Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes (CNC) is a world class and world-famous collection of insects in Ottawa that includes more than 18 million specimens. It incorporates specimens from the early 1900s until the present and is a depository of most of the biodiversity found in Canada. The professional taxonomists working there describe species and identify thousands of specimens every year for other biologists. It is their unique skill, with their knowledge extending far beyond species identity. They really know their groups in nearly all their aspects.
There are more than 80,000 named species in Canada, excluding viruses and bacteria. The insects make up the bulk of those species and most are in four orders: butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), wasps (Hymenoptera), beetles (Coleoptera) and true flies (Diptera). The 9,777 named species of flies represent 12 per cent of all species of Canada, making the flies one of the most diverse groups of organisms in Canada.
However, it is important to know that much of our fauna remains unnamed. DNA barcoding, which provides information on a single gene, suggests that there are more than 34,000 species of flies in Canada. This is largely confirmed by taxonomists studying whole organisms. Thus, much of our fauna is unnamed. Finding a unique DNA barcode identifier is insufficient for understanding a species, what it looks like, its likely adaptations and its evolutionary status. This makes it vital that collections and the scientists who work on these specimens continue their work on whole organisms.
Insects are the movers and shakers of ecosystems and understanding them provides vital information on biodiversity and how best to conserve and manage our biological heritage. They are most often the first evidence of environmental change, making them critically important in understanding the impact of climate change and other environmental impacts. There are already published reports of blackfly and mosquito species having expanded their ranges into the Arctic. We know this because of recent collections made and compared with those from earlier decades—all based on specimens in the CNC.
Canadian courts have recently issued landmark rulings affirming that climate inaction threatens our national welfare. Our Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that the federal government has the authority and obligation to address the climate emergency nationwide. Our prime minister has written eloquently about the importance of addressing climate change.
This all makes it particularly shocking that the recent cuts to staffing within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada include the scientists and their support staff working on flies (Diptera Unit). This gutting of a whole unit will leave a substantial gap in our capacity to identify flies in Canada. In 2023, one of the scientists working on flies and holding one of the highest positions available in the federal service (a Research Scientist 4) was suspended for what were clearly minor infractions during a field trip (for example, buying new tires for a government vehicle without permission) and this individual was subsequently not permitted to work in the collection. The Diptera Unit has been steadily undermined by administrators over a number of years. It is hard not to wonder if this is retribution against a group of scientists who have been an amazingly productive and cohesive group—international leaders for decades. Those being terminated now are in the later stages of their careers. One, an older expert working on parasitic flies and a group of major importance in biological control, was terminated and was refused even emeritus status (called HRA, Honorary Research Associate). Meaning he cannot continue to volunteer to do research there. There used to be seven taxonomists studying the flies of Canada and so the reality is that there is a need to hire more scientists to fill the need to study the fly diversity of Canada.
When I learned of these terminations, announced in January and which I heard about from international colleagues, I wrote a petition, along with my colleague Dr. David Grimaldi (American Museum of Natural History) and sent this to our community. The result was a flood of emails, lamenting these cuts and expressing shock that this was even considered. The scientists at the CNC are international experts with a broad, worldwide knowledge, including of course, strong connections to that international community. I gathered the 495 names of colleagues, representing 47 countries and the petition was delivered to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in February. Letters have also been sent to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. None of this has had any impact on the ground. Emails sent to two pertinent administrators in Agriculture and Agri-Food resulted in the expected responses and reassurances that all is well.
The whole of the Canadian National Collection (CNC) has only 10 taxonomists left to work on the insect fauna of our entire country. In British Columbia, for example, there are an estimated 30,000 species of insects, with about a third of these unnamed. Of the remaining 20,000 named species, we know virtually nothing about their biology except largely by conjecture. In short, we live with an extremely high level of ignorance about the true biodiversity of Canada.
What is at stake here is the continued existence and further development of a core scientific capability: the ability to document, identify, curate, and interpret insect biodiversity in support of biosecurity, health, conservation, environmental policy and economic pursuits (like agriculture, forestry, etc.). At the same time, biodiversity loss is consistently ranked among the top global risks for the coming decade, making the attrition of this capacity particularly difficult to justify. At a time of accelerating global change, Canada is needlessly eroding its capacity to understand and respond to biodiversity change. Species are moving, new disease vectors will arrive, and yet the institutional expertise and collections infrastructure required to identify and contextualize these organisms is being removed (here and elsewhere over the past several decades). This is not an abstract academic concern, but a matter of national preparedness.
We can do much better with our limited resources. Reducing bloat in the federal government should not result in a loss of vital scientific capacity. We need evidence-based information to guide us through the coming years and firing scientists and their support staff is not the way to proceed.
Some may wonder if there are insect taxonomists at universities who fill in the gap, but the few that are active are hampered by the drive to obtain grants and support. Insect taxonomy is still being taught at a few universities in Canada, but the reality is that there are no jobs for graduating students. Part of the problem is that describing our insect fauna doesn’t generate money and, although essential to most other biological studies (you’ve got to know what species you have), is very poorly supported nearly everywhere in the world. Governments need to support this research.
Insect taxonomy is my own restricted area of science, but it is certain that other scientific arenas in the federal service are also being impacted in similar ways across the public service—with decisions being largely made by higher-level managers, based on mandates from politicians—all, with inherently limited knowledge, and without consultation with the experts they should be supporting.
The Canadian National Collection faces a lack of awareness of its value and the importance of its work. It is presently under the authority of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and there has been a repeated drive by administrators to press the work done there to the needs of Agriculture. This has resulted in recurring conflicts and miscommunication (and a fear of managers by staff). The federal government should broaden its mandate, separate the CNC from Agriculture Canada and merge it with the Canadian Museum of Nature, where the collection was originally born.
Many are already familiar with how the United States government, under President Donald Trump, has gutted numerous scientific institutions such as the Center for Disease Control and Environmental Protection Agency. The U.S. federal government has terminated thousands of medical studies and dealt a body blow to the country’s scientific capacity that will take many years to resurrect. Does Canada want to follow in its footsteps?
If Canada is serious about understanding and protecting our biodiversity, there needs to be some major renewed support for vital institutions such as the CNC, and the important work being done there.
