Gary Goodyear

Goodyear was raised and educated in Cambridge, Ontario. After high school he attended the University of Waterloo, studying in Biomechanics and Psychology, but left without completing a degree.

He afterwards attended the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, where he graduated cum laude, was class president, and valedictorian.[2] He started his full-time practice in Cambridge in 1984 where he was Clinic Director, Director of Patient Services and Past President of Future Recovery Canada. He was a co-designer of the three year post-graduate Sports Fellowship Program. He also co-authored "Practice Guidelines" and was Public Relations Director and Past President for the College of Chiropractic Sports Sciences in Toronto. He was also the health columnist for the Cambridge Times newspaper from 1986 to 1996, and has taught at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and the University of Waterloo..

In the 2004 federal election, Goodyear defeated incumbent Liberal Janko Peric by 224 votes (as confirmed on recount) to win the Cambridge riding. After the election, Goodyear was named Ontario Chair of the Conservative Party caucus.[3] He was re-elected in 2006 with the endorsement of Vote Marriage Canada, and was also endorsed by the Canadian Islamic Congress receiving a grade of A [4] In 2006, he won the riding of Cambridge by almost 6,000 votes.

After the 2006 federal election Goodyear was elected Standing committee chair of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (of which he chairs the Subcommittee on Parliament Hill Security.) In March 2008 the Procedure and House Affairs Committee ousted Goodyear by moving a motion of non-confidence in him. The committee then elected Conservative MP Joe Preston as the chair against his will, and he called no meetings before resigning from his position. The committee currently has no chair and has not met since March 6. Jay Hill, Conservative party whip, said he is adamant that unless the opposition is willing to meet to re-elect Goodyear as the chair and to withdraw the motion to study the In and Out scandal, there will be no Procedure and House Affairs committee meetings.[5] The Speaker of the House made a ruling on the events in this committee and others which stated rulings by committee chairs are being routinely overturned by majority votes, even when the rulings are procedurally sound. Such a state of affairs has led to "general lawlessness" at committees.[6] Goodyear also chairs Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure He was also named Chairman of the all-party Canada-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group.

A former campaign manager for Goodyear admits he negotiated a lease for a campaign headquarters in 2004 that said the landlord would make a political donation to Goodyear's election bid. In a compliance agreement with the Commissioner of Canada Elections, Reg Petersen "acknowledged an act that constitutes an offence" under the Elections Act.[7] The Conservative Party's spokesperson, Ryan Sparrow, responded that the error was a mistake made by a first-time campaign manager and noted that "Elections Canada has acknowledged that [Peterson] made a mistake and no further action has been taken." [8]

Role in cabinet

John Carmichael, MP; Gary Goodyear, Minister of State; Slawko Klykiw; Christina Jennings, Chair, CFC Board of Directors; Ana Serrano @ Canadian Film Centre

Following the Conservative victory in the 2008 federal election, Goodyear was appointed to the cabinet portfolio of Minister of State for Science and Technology.

Under the federal Minister of State for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear, the NRC became a "toolbox for industry" and dented basic-research infrastructure.[10]

Goodyear, the minister of state for science and technology, has presided over the most retrograde federal Science and Technology policy in memory. During his tenure, the government shuttered the office of the National Science Adviser, blocked asbestos from a UN hazardous chemicals list on which it clearly belongs, gutted the Fisheries Act, gutted the Navigable Waters Protection Act, set out to weaken the Species at Risk Act, killed the long-form census, eroded Environment Canada’s ability to monitor climate change, earned an international reputation for muzzling scientists and, at a great potential cost, defunded the world’s leading freshwater research centre... At the same time, changes to our science-funding regime and a makeover of the National Research Council, Canada’s science agency, into a tool box for industry have dented our basic-research infrastructure and damaged our prospects for innovation.

— Himelfarb 2014

In early 2009, Goodyear oversaw $147.9 million in funding cuts [11] for science programs, the most prominent being the lack of any funding for new projects for Genome Canada.[12] Critics of the cuts, including a team of neuroscientists who lost funding, argued that when coupled with the Obama administration's increased funding for science, the cuts could produce a brain drain as researchers move to the United States and secure funding.[13]

June 2009 saw Goodyear recommending the SSHRC withdraw a $19,750 funding grant for a future of Israel and Palestine conference[14] because it was deemed by the Minister to be too anti-Israel.[15] Goodyear responded, saying that he did call the SSHRC to ask for a funding review, but denied he asked them to cancel the grant.[16]

Under Goodyear, federal science and technology expenditures reached nearly $11.9 billion in 2010–11.[17] In the Economic Action Plan 2012, the federal government announced that one billion new dollars are to be invested in science and technology.[18]

Under the Economic Action Plan, the National Research Council was transformed into a research and technology organization that focuses on "business-led research."[19] On 7 May 2013, the NRC launched its new "business approach" in which it offered only four "business lines": "strategic research and development, technical services, management of science and technology infrastructure and NRC-Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP). These four business lines are intended to shorten the gap between early stage research and development and commercialization.[19] NRC is focus "real-world applications"[20] was the creation of the Canadian Wheat Alliance, (CWA) in 2013 [21] with NRC, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Government of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan.[20] With a budget of approximately $97 million (2013-2018), the Canadian Wheat Alliance will study improving the yield of Canadian wheat even in extreme weather, integrating "basic research with genetic improvement"[22] of wheat crops, and research on efficient use of chemical fertilizers.[20] Working with the Crop Development Centre they will be integrating "basic research with genetic improvement"[22] of wheat. The second major industry-led research in 2013 is the Algal Carbon Conversion Pilot Project, [21] development of an algae system to recycle carbon emissions from the oil sands, with plans for a $19 million facility to be constructed in Alberta, in partnership between the NRC and industry partners, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (Canadian Natural) and Pond Biofuels.[21]

The Canadian Wheat Alliance will improve the quality of Canadian wheat, and enhance Canada’s competitive position in the growing world market," said Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, on behalf of the Honorable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology). "The benefits of this Alliance will flow throughout the entire value chain, strengthening our producers’ bottom lines and our overall economy.

— 7 May 2013

• Himelfarb, Jordan (12 July 2013), Federal cabinet shuffle: Gary Goodyear has to go, retrieved 12 January 2014
• "Crop Development Centre", College of Agriculture and Bioresources, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: University of Saskatchewan, nd, archived from the original on 13 January 2014, retrieved 12 January 2014
• Collins, Andrea (Fall 2005), Bridging Science and the Marketplace, archived from the original on 12 January 2014, retrieved 11 January 2014
• "House of Commons Debates, 41st Parl, 1st Sess, No 134, 5 June 2012 at 8815", Enviro-Hansard, 5 June 2012, retrieved 11 January 2014
• "John R. McDougall: Ex-officio Advisor for Genome Canada", Genome Canada, 2014, archived from the original on 12 January 2014, retrieved 11 January 2014
• "Transforming the National Research Council", Government of Canada, nd, retrieved 12 January 2013
• "Canada to improve the yield, sustainability and profitability of Canadian wheat: Canadian Wheat Alliance to support R&D projects to develop new wheat varieties", National Research Council Canada, 16 May 2013, archived from the original on 13 January 2014, retrieved 12 January 2014
• "Open for business: Refocused NRC will benefit Canadian industries: The Government of Canada launches refocused National Research Council". NRC (Press release). Ottawa, Ontario: National Research Council. 7 May 2013. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
• "Open for business: Refocused NRC will benefit Canadian industries (audio)". NRC (Press release). 7 May 2013a. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
• Government of Canada investing in technology to reduce GHG emissions in the oil sands: Innovative new technology will convert industrial GHG emissions into commercial products, Calgary, Alberta, 10 May 2013, archived from the original on 20 December 2013, retrieved 11 January 2014

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gary Goodyear.

• Gary Goodyear official site
• Profile at Parliament of Canada
• Gary Goodyear – Parliament of Canada biography
• Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca