Independent Research and the Canadian Foreign Policy Community
| Published date | 01 June 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200005500211 |
| Author | Gerald J. Schmitz |
| Date | 01 June 2000 |
| Subject Matter | The Readers' Column |
THE
READERS'
COLUMN
Independent
research
and
the
Canadian
foreign
policy
community
Gerald
J.
Schmitz
Dear
editors:
JANE
BOLDEN'S
ARTICLE
SURVEYING
the
state
of
independent
research
serving
the
Canadian
foreign
policy
community
(autumn
1999)
brings
some
welcome
attention
to
this
matter, and
I
hope
it
will
stim-
ulate
further
reflection
on
how
best
to
strengthen
current
capacities.
However,
I
think
I
should
draw the
author's
and
your
readers'
atten-
tion
to
a
misleading
oversight
in
regard
to
the
provision
of
research
facilities
on
international
issues
for
Canadian
parliamentarians.
While
Boulden
refers
to
the
role
played
by
the
Congressional
Research
Service
of
the
Library
of
Congress,
she
ignores
completely
its
counterpart
in
Ottawa,
the
Parliamentary
Research
Branch
of
the
Library
of
Parliament.
The
latter
is,
of
course,
a
much
smaller
organi-
zation;
however,
it
has
carried
out
foreign policy-related
research
for
several
decades
and
in
recent
years has
become
virtually the
sole
source
of
such
research
for
the relevant
committees
of
the
House
of
Commons
and
the
Senate
for
the
growing
number
of
inter-parliamen-
tary
associations,
as
well
as
for
individual
members
of
parliament.
Boulden
does
make
prominent mention
of
the
Parliamentary
Centre,
and
portrays
it
as
the 'principal
source
of
staff'
for
Canadian
foreign
affairs
committees.
This
has
not
been
the
case
for
some
time,
indeed
since
the
mid-1990s
the
Centre
has
almost completely
relin-
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Spring
2000
To continue reading
Request your trial