THUNDER BAY – Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that a re-elected Conservative Government will invest $100 million to establish the Canada Brain Research Fund to support brain research and neuroscience in Canada.
Prime Minister Harper said that one in three Canadians are affected by brain disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, brain and spinal cord injuries, concussions and stroke.
The Canada Brain Research Fund will help to find new treatments and cures for these diseases that affect so many Canadians and their families.
“I am proud to support the Canada Brain Research Fund,” Prime Minister Harper said. “Brain diseases and disorders touch the lives of so many Canadians and their families. Our funding supports cutting-edge research and builds on our record investments in Canada’s health care system — to keep it the best health care system in the world.”
A re-elected Conservative Government’s contribution to the Canada Brain Research Fund will leverage matching contributions from the private sector and neuroscience-related organizations for a total investment of $300 million. The Brain Research Fund will serve as a public-private partnership involving Brain Canada, the Neurological Health Charities Canada and the Canadian Association for Neuroscience.
Funding for this initiative was included in Budget 2011, the Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, tabled in Parliament on March 22. The Ignatieff-led Coalition with the Bloc Québécois and NDP opposed this historic investment in Canada’s health care system when they rejected the Budget and forced an unnecessary election.
Prime Minister Harper observed that Canadians face a real choice when it comes to supporting medical research: A re-elected Conservative Government that supports the Canada Brain Research Fund, or an Ignatieff-led Coalition that rejected this proposal. The Prime Minister stated that “only a majority Conservative Government can be trusted to continue our record investments in the Canadian health care system and critical medical research in Canada.”