The Canadian Association of Research Libraries is pleased to invite member directors to the 2025 Spring Member Meeting. This annual gathering serves as a vital platform for the exchange of ideas, strategic planning, and collaborative discussions that shape the future of research libraries across Canada.
Inn at the Forks
75 Forks Market Rd, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0A2
Tel: (204) 942-6555
Hotel Website
A block of rooms has been reserved for May 26-29, 2025 at a cost of $245 CAD/night. The special room rate will be available until Wednesday, April 23, 2025 or until the group block is sold-out, whichever comes first. We suggest that you reserve as soon as possible to ensure that you can get a room.
Engaging in the Community – Where Can Libraries Make an Impact
Duncan Mercredi, Winnipeg Poet Laureate and Knowledge Keeper, University of Manitoba Libraries
(Wednesday, May 28, 8:30–9:00 AM)
In this session, Duncan will discuss land acknowledgements, their use, the way in which acknowledgements are made, and what considerations / perspectives should be taken; what his role as Knowledge Keeper brings to the University of Manitoba Libraries, what are his priorities, overall, what does the role of knowledge keeper entail, and what does he and the UofM libraries want to achieve; what considerations should CARL members be thinking about if they wanted to embark on the same journey amongst other things.
Update on the work of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
Raymond Frogner, Senior Director of Research and Head of Archives, NCTR
(Wednesday, May 28, 9:00–10:00 AM)
This presentation will trace four periods in the evolving Imperial / Indigenous relationship in Canadian history. Each period will be characterized with archival examples to highlight when juridical authority asserted its contested jurisdiction; and how Indigenous peoples’ responded. In each period the character of the archival records reflects the character of the relationship.
Impacts of the Current North American Political Environment on Research, Collections, and EDI – Perspectives
Gabriel Miller, President and CEO, Universities Canada (remote)
Dr. Diane Hiebert-Murphy, Provost and Vice-President (Academic), University of Manitoba
(Wednesday, May 28, 10:15–11:30 AM)
The two invited speakers will offer their observations and thoughts – one from a pan-Canadian university advocacy organization’s perspective and one from an institutional administrator’s and researcher’s perspective – on how political developments south of the border and in Canada are impacting Canadian post-secondary education, our universities, the makeup of the academy, research funding, innovation, and such societal goals as equity, diversity and inclusion. Measures being undertaken or considered by universities to find new opportunities and to mitigate negative impacts will also be discussed. The session will not be focused on libraries so much as on the broader context in which research libraries are set.
CoARA and DORA: Changing the Research Culture
Dr. Kelly Cobey, Ottawa Heart Institute and Co-Chair, DORA (pre-recorded)
Dr. Natalia Manola, CEO, OpenAIRE and Co-Chair, CoARA WG OI4RRA (pre-recorded)
Dr. Erica Conte, Director, Funding Strategy and Stewardship, Unity Health Toronto
(Wednesday, May 28, 11:30 AM–12:30 PM)
With recent developments in the open science space come calls from researchers and other stakeholders to enact more holistic changes to research culture, including research assessment. Internationally, DORA and CoARA are at the forefront of this movement; research assessment reform agreements issued by these organizations are garnering attention and gaining traction internationally and with some success in Canada. In this session, invited speakers will provide pre-recorded dispatches from DORA and CoARA, updating CARL members on the current state of play and contributing their perspectives on the Canadian context.
Reflecting Library Values in the Shift to Investment from Procurement
Joanna Ball, Managing Director, DOAJ
(Wednesday, May 28, 2:30–3:30 PM)
Joanna will broadly discuss investment versus procurement and how existing infrastructure assessment frameworks can be helpful to translate a library’s values into principles and rules that will guide their support to open infrastructures, as investment. DOAJ will be described as illustrative.
Intellectual Freedom in Interesting Times
James Turk, CEO, Centre for Free Expression (remote)
Vickery Bowles, CEO, Toronto Public Library (remote)
(Wednesday, May 28, 3:45–5:00 PM)
The session will explore whether Canadian academic libraries and their leadership need to more actively champion our profession’s core values in light of recent developments in Canada and other jurisdictions that are challenging intellectual freedom and its role in a just, lawful, and democratic society. Presentations from a leader and IF champion in the public library sphere (Vickery) and from one of Canada’s foremost academics on the subject (Jim) will be followed by Q & A, and then by CARL tables discussion. Vickery will describe a recent TPL IF campaign and offer some observations for members’ consideration based on her experience. Jim will help us unpack the concepts and will suggest ways that academic libraries and their leaders may better navigate these times so as not to lose ground.
Tri-Agency Update
Matthew Lucas, Executive Director, Corporate Strategy and Performance, SSHRC (remote)
Tim Wilson, Associate Vice-President, Research Programs, SSHRC (remote)
Kori St-Cyr, Director, Policy and Government, NSERC (remote)
Alison Bourgon, Director-General, Science Policy Branch, CIHR (remote)
(Thursday, May 29, 11:00 AM–12:00 PM)
The tri-agency representatives will update CARL members on developments in several areas:
Joanna Ball: As Managing Director of DOAJ, Joanna Ball is responsible for ensuring DOAJ fulfills its mission by setting strategic direction, leading advocacy and engagement, and securing the organisation’s sustainability. Before joining DOAJ in 2022, Joanna spent over 25 years in management and leadership roles within research libraries in the UK and Denmark, most recently as Head of Roskilde University Library. She has experience in strategy development, managing cultural change and developing open access services and programmes. She is a member of UKSG’s Insights Editorial Board and is currently Chair of its Board of Trustees. Joanna lives with her family in Roskilde.
Alison Bourgon is the Acting Director General of Science Policy at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). She has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Guelph, and a Master’s of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa. Before joining CIHR, Alison held several research positions at the University of Ottawa, the Ottawa Cancer Center, and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, including managing knowledge translation projects related to clinical decision making and patient decision aids. During her ten years at CIHR, Alison has held various leadership positions, including Deputy Director of investigator-initiated and priority-driven programs, and Manager of Knowledge Translation Strategies. In her current position, Alison oversees the breadth of CIHR’s science policies and strategies, including work in the area of ethics; research capacity; equity, diversity and inclusion; knowledge translation; open science; and health research data.
Vickery Bowles is the City Librarian at Toronto Public Library (TPL), Canada’s largest public library system, with 100 branches. Since being appointed in 2015, she has championed public libraries as democratic institutions to preserve and protect democratic values and freedoms; in particular, intellectual freedom – every individual’s right to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction – in Toronto and across the global public library sector. Toronto Public Library was the 2025 recipient of the CFLA-FCAB Intellectual Freedom Award.
Dr. Kelly Cobey, is a scientist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute where she leads the Metaresearch and Open Science Program. She is also an associate professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Cobey holds a number of national and international leadership positions in the meta-research community. Since 2015 she has been a member of EQUATOR Canada which provides educational outreach and support for the use of reporting guidelines. She also presently sits on the Advisory Board of DORA (Declaration On Research Assessment) which aims to drive the use of more responsible metrics to evaluate research and researchers, and serves on the Science Policy Committee for Research Data Canada.
Dr. Erica Conte is the Director of Funding Strategy and Stewardship at St. Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto. She has diverse work experience in academics, industry, and research administration, including expertise in research assessment, strategic planning, communication, institutional leadership, as well as both traditional and philanthropic research funding. She is the Canadian representative on the INORMS Research Evaluation Group, where she helps develop tools to support responsible research assessment and improve our use of global and national rankings in research.
Raymond Frogner: As Head of Archives at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) since 2016, Raymond Frogner is responsible for honouring, safeguarding, and facilitating responsible access to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) records and additional materials of enduring value to Indigenous Peoples. Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia Raymond received his Master of Arts in Labour History from the University of Victoria and a Master of Archival Studies from the University of British Columbia. His graduate work focused on archives and Indigenous identity. He continues to research and publish on archival issues with a focus on Indigenous societies, identity and memory.
Dr. Diane Hiebert-Murphy was appointed as Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at University of Manitoba in 2021. Before assuming her role as Provost, Dr. Hiebert-Murphy served as Vice-Provost (Academic Affairs) from 2016 to 2021. An accomplished researcher, clinician, mentor and administrator, Dr. Hiebert-Murphy obtained a BSW, MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba, completing a clinical internship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She is a Professor in UM’s Faculty of Social Work and the Psychological Service Centre in the Faculty of Arts. Her research and scholarship focuses on intervention with families of young children with disabilities and families impacted by violence, and has been funded nationally (SSHRC) and provincially.
Matthew Lucas joined the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in September 2015 as the Executive Director, Corporate Strategy and Performance, and has a background in science, technology and innovation policy. Prior to SSHRC, Matthew worked at Industry Canada where he held several positions, including Senior Policy Advisor to the Science, Technology and Innovation Council Secretariat, and the Departmental Advisor to the Minister of State for Science and Technology. Matthew received his PhD from the University of Toronto in 2005.
Dr. Natalia Manola is the CEO of OpenAIRE, a pan European e-Infrastructure supporting scholarly communication and open science Europe since 2009, and Co-Chair of the CoARA Working Group on Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment (WG OI4RRA). Natalia holds a Physics degree from the University of Athens, and an MS in Electrical and Computing Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and has worked for several years as a Software Engineer and Architect in the Bioinformatics commercial sector. She has expertise in Open Science policies and implementation, having served in the EOSC Executive Board 2019-20, and in the Open Science Policy Platform (2016-17), an EC High Level Advisory Group providing advice about the development and implementation of open science policy in Europe.
Duncan Mercredi is a Cree/Métis writer and storyteller originally from Misipawistik (Grand Rapids), Manitoba, and Poet Laureate of Winnipeg. He is currently the Knowledge Keeper at the University of Manitoba libraries.
Gabriel Miller is the President and CEO of Universities Canada, a role he assumed in 2024. He is an experienced not-for-profit leader who has built an extensive track record in member relations, advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and public policy development over his 22-year career. Previously, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Gabriel holds a B.A. in philosophy from Queen’s University, and has served as a member of several not-for-profit boards as well as on the Government of Canada’s Diamond Jubilee Advisory Committee.
Kori St-Cyr is Director, Policy and Government Relations at the Natural Sciences Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). In this role, Kori provides leadership to the agency’s international, strategic policy and government affairs activities. Prior to this role, Kori served as Senior Policy Advisor to NSERC’s Vice-President, Research Grants and Scholarships. Before joining NSERC in 2020, Kori served as Acting Manager in Science Policy and Senior Advisor in Science Strategy at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Previously, as a Research Associate with the Council of Canadian Academies, Kori worked with multidisciplinary panels of experts to develop evidence-based reports informing public policy development in Canada.
James L. Turk is the director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University. He is a frequent media commentator and public speaker on freedom of expression, intellectual freedom, post-secondary education, academic freedom, whistleblowing, and other public policy issues related to expressive freedom, social justice, and democracy. He received his Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) from Harvard University, studied political science and philosophy as a Knox Fellow at the University of Cambridge, received his Master of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley and his doctor of philosophy from the University of Toronto. In 2024, Dr. Turk was the inaugural recipient of the CFLA-FCAB Intellectual Freedom Award.
Tim Wilson is the Associate Vice-President of Research Programs at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), where he is responsible for overseeing the Agency’s granting programs. Prior to coming to SSHRC, Tim held a number of executive positions at the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Public Service Commission. In addition to his career in the Public Service, Tim also teaches English Literature part-time at the University of Ottawa, specializing in Renaissance Literature and Literary Theory.
