The 2014 Canadian Science Policy Conference (CSPC 2014) is being held from Oct. 15 – 17, 2014 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is offering 40% off from the regular rates until Sept. 8, 2014 (from the CSPC 2014 registration rate webpage),

Super Saver; 40% discount, Regular Delegate – $510 (Register before Sept 8th)
Super Saver, 40% discount, Academic/NGO – $270 (Register before Sept 8th)
Super Saver, 40% discount, Student – $75 (Register before Sept 8th)

Early Bird Regular Delegate – $725 (on or before Sept 28th)
Early Bird Academic/NGO – $350 (on or before Sept 28th)
Early Bird Student – $100 (on or before Sept 28th)

Regular Delegate Rate – $850 (after Sept 28th)
Regular Academic/NGO – $450 (after Sept 28th)
Regular Student – $150 (after Sept 28th)

This will be the sixth annual CSPC and it features this agenda (from the Agenda at a Glance webpage), Note: Links have been removed,

Wednesday, October 15th, 2014
Time     Activity
3:00pm – 8:00pm     CSPC 2014 Special Workshop     From Research to Implementation: A Lean Entrepreneurship Approach to Advancing Innovation

Thursday, October 16th, 2014
Time     Activity
8:00am – 8:30am     Opening Ceremony

8:30am – 10:00am     Plenary Session     The Inside Story of Procurement and Industrial Technological Benefits (ITB) and Value Propositions

10:00am – 10:30am     Coffee Break

10:30am – 12:00pm

Panel 2     Big problems, big networks, big data
Panel 3     Mitigating the risk of marine geohazards
Panel 4     Building opportunities for collaboration between government and academia to inform public policy

12:00pm- 2:00pm     Lunch

2:00pm – 3:30pm

Panel 5     Partnership that move innovation from Campus to Commerce
Panel 6     The crucial role of small and medium size universities for advancing Canadian social and econ development
Panel 7     Industry-Academic Partnerships in Canada: A View from the Trenches

3:30pm – 4:30pm     Break & Exhibit Display

4:30pm – 6:30pm     Keynote session     Audit on Science Panel

Friday, October 17th, 2014
Time     Activity
8:30am – 10:00am     Panel 8     TBA

10:00am – 10:30am     Coffee Break

10:30am – 12:00pm

Panel 9     Looking to 2020 and beyond: Training the next generation of innovation leaders in Canada
Panel 10     From Excellence to Impact: How Large Infrastructure Stimulate Growth
Panel 11     Communication and Collaboration: Government Science as a Partner for Innovation

12:00pm – 1:30pm     Lunch

1:30pm – 3:00pm

Panel 12     Data management plans- Policy and Practice
Panel 13     Complex International Science, Technology and Innovation Partnerships: Lessons for Canada
Panel 14     Entrepreneurship and Innovation Success in Atlantic

3:00pm – 3:30pm     Coffee Break

3:30pm – 5:00pm     Closing Panel

Oddly, for this gathering, there don’t seem to be any politicians scheduled to speak. Perhaps the organizers are still negotiating; I notice there are some gaps in the agenda.

I have some suggestions: someone or several someones from the expert panel that just (late August 2014) launched its report on ‘Science Culture in Canada’ along with the new CEO of the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corp. (Alex Benay) and maybe one or two people who could generate some excitement (e.g. Justin Trudeau, Tom Jenkins).

By the way, I’m available.

* Sept. 8 changed to Sept. 9, 2014 as per a CSPC update notice (change made Sept. 5, 2014).