• $17,500 University of Alberta study – Sexual Consent to Heterosexual Casual Sex among Young Adults Living in Jasper

• $17,500 University of Ottawa study – Marking the unmarked: the experiences of visibly body-modified teachers, phenomenology, and the pedagogy of the body

• $20,000 University of BC study – Letters to a porn star: an epistolary analysis of Nina Hartley's fan mail

• $17,500 University of Guelph study – The Poles Are in: Exploring Women’s Sexual Identities and the Rising Popularity of Pole Dancing 

OTTAWA, ON: With graduation season winding up and MPs already on their summer break, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) held a tongue-in-cheek, cap-and-gown ceremony on Parliament Hill to shine the spotlight on some of the most wacky grants handed out by the federal government’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for university research over the past few years.

The CTF highlighted four completed master’s scholarship projects that each received $17,500 in federal tax dollars, as well as a doctoral, a post-doctoral, and a master’s research project currently in progress with $57,500 in federal funding;

A ‘landmark’ University of Alberta study, Sexual Consent to Heterosexual Casual Sex among Young Adults Living in Jasper got $17,500 in federal funding. Among the study’s findings, gleaned from interviews with 21 young Jasper residents was: “regardless of who made the initial approach, eye contact is considered very important in determining whom to approach. Several men mentioned that is not advisable to approach a woman prior to eye contact.”

In gaining such critical insights, the university researcher admitted, “I began to develop a reputation as someone who enjoyed going to the bar, drinking and dancing.”

CTF Federal Director Gregory Thomas and CTF student intern and Generation Screwed campus co-ordinator Tyler Lively joined CTF pig mascot Porky the Waste Hater in awarding a Screwed U honorary doctorate to SSHRC for its careless handling of taxpayer cash.

“Now that it’s public knowledge that the federal government will pay you $17,500 to hang out in a ski resort for a couple of months and investigate casual sex, we expect every frat boy in the country to be lining up for a research grant to replicate this study – in Whistler, Banff, Tremblant, you name it,” said Thomas.

Other completed works of note:

• A 2008 University of Guelph study on pole dancing classes, funded with $17,500 in federal tax money, interviewed 17 women. One insight from the author of the report: “An example of postfeminist sexual ideals can be seen in the television series, Sex in the City, most clearly through the character Samantha.”
• A University of Ottawa examination of the experiences of three school teachers with tattoos and body piercings. ($17,500)

Still in progress are three more studies:

• The 2012 winner of a $20,000 postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia: Letters to a porn star: an epistolary analysis of Nina Hartley's fan mail.
• The 2009 winner of a $20,000 doctoral fellowship at York University: Digital designs: cultural identity, nationalism, and China's online role-playing game industry.
• The 2009 winner of a $17,500 master’s scholarship at Memorial University of Newfoundland: Linguistic identity creation through communities of practice in World of Warcraft.

“SSHRC may be giving a few students free money for wacky research,” said third year economics student, CTF intern, and CTF-initiated Generation Screwed co-ordinator at Queen’s University, Tyler Lively. “They’re actually burdening all Canadian students with higher taxes and millions added to federal government debt

For the complete CTF backgrounder with links to the research papers, click HERE.

For further information, please contact:

Gregory Thomas, Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Work: 613-234-6554 Mobile: 613-295-8409 email:[email protected]