The PCC has not been working on a single or group of issues
this year. (This differs from the previous year when there were several
issues we were dealing with through practical means.) However, the
PCC, in consultation with other organisations, the key one being the Humanities
and Social Sciences Federation of Canada (HSSFC), has been gathering and
analysing issues of common concern, together with those that are unique
to our particular discipline(s). Richard Plant has been serving as our
representative to the HSSFC, and has been efficient in keeping us up-to-date
about initiatives that the HSSFC is undertaking.
We will discuss some of these issues at our next conference,
we will figure out practical strategies to deal with them, and we will
engage in long-range planning projected over the next two to three years.
(Of course, thecommittee will modify its agenda in response to changing
conditions.) We will provide a detailed report on our progress to date
at the AGM at which time we will be asking you to tell us what you want
us to do.
The key issue on everyone's mind seems to be the search for ways
in which we might "invest" ourselves. This kind of vocabulary is now in
fashion with politicians and governments. Richard has explained that at
the last meeting of the HSSFC in Ottawa in December, there was a pervasive
impression that our work in the humanities and social sciences is not considered
to be of great consequence. It will perhaps be through "investing" in ourselves
that this impression might be changed. Some suggested strategies are: 1)
to emphasise the contributions that we make, individually and collectively,
to Canadian society; 2) to question the assumption that arts and performing
undergraduates have a poor employment record; 3) to foster closer connections
among our disciplines, the media, and the general public; 4) to submit
brief, one page outlines describing the relevance/"investment value" of
our work to Canada [these can be sent directly to the HSSFC in Ottawa];
5) to continue to advocate regular funding increases to SSHRCC; and 6)
to continue to point out that since approximately half of student enrollment
is in the humanities and social sciences, funding for these students should
be increased to bring it in line with funding for other disciplines.
Denis Salter