Response to parliamentary committees and external audits

Response to parliamentary committees

In 2024-25, the following Parliamentary Committee reports required a response:

Fall 2024: Government Response to the Eleventh Report of the Standing Committee on Science and Research

In June 2024, the Standing Committee on Science and Research tabled its 11th report entitled:

Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge and Science in Canadian Research and Policy Development. Of the 15 recommendations, Polar Knowledge Canada was implicated in 4:

• Recommendation 2 regarding review of funding criteria to ensure that all research projects affecting Indigenous populations in Canada have established relationships with the relevant communities and received their consent and support for the project prior to approving funding.
• Recommendation 3 requesting that the Government of Canada examine the representation of Indigenous knowledge holders on their review panels and work with Indigenous communities to support the appropriate evaluation of applications for funding that affect Indigenous communities.
• Recommendation 4 regarding review of funding criteria to ensure that all projects affecting Indigenous communities in Canada have sufficient timelines to ensure the ongoing participation of the affected communities and encourage participation across all stages of the project.
• Recommendation 9 requesting that the Government of Canada, in collaboration with Indigenous governments, organizations and communities, explore the ways in which Indigenous data sovereignty and collective rights can be better supported in Canadian policy and law.

In its thematic response, the Government outlined the programs and initiatives in place that responds to issues raised in the report, noting that Polar Knowledge Canada is committed to Indigenous-responsive calls and funding application review processes, actively evaluates criteria to facilitate relational-based outcomes, and engages with systems change considerations to foster meaningful engagement with Indigenous partners. The response also notes that Polar Knowledge Canda, in partnership with the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan, has developed research guidelines, including a definition of data, that incorporates all ways of knowing.