Canada’s national research system has not prioritized the science that makes the National Research Council’s goal of “advancing mission-driven science and innovation” possible, write Shay M Freger (McMaster University) and Mathew Leonardi (McMaster). Freger and Leonardi describe the importance of funding exploratory, investigator-led work on “neglected” problems, explaining that scientific advances are built on these types of studies. They assert that public investment in long-term, general research can support breakthroughs by strengthening the broader discovery pipeline and ensure that Canada is less reliant on research from other countries. “Today’s difficult question may become tomorrow’s platform technology,” write Freger and Leonardi. “But only if someone is allowed to ask it.”
