The fight to save the Centre of the Universe, which is scheduled to shut its doors next month, is ramping up with another petition — this one to be presented to the Conservative government in the House of Commons.
An interpretive centre adjacent to the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory on West Saanich Road, the Centre of the Universe will be closed to the public on Aug. 24 by the federal government to save money.
B.C. NDP science and technology critic Kennedy Stewart joined local NDP MPs Randall Garrison and Lana Popham at a press conference Friday to launch a petition calling on the National Research Council Canada to restore the funding for public outreach in astronomy and astrophysics at the centre.
“For many years, the Centre of the Universe has provided students, families and amateur astronomy buffs with opportunities to explore space,” Garrison said in a news release. “This facility and its staff inspire the next generation of Vancouver Island scientists.
The closure is another example of how the Conservative government is undermining science capacity in Canada, Stewart said.
The National Research Council, a government agency reporting to Parliament through the Industry Ministry, said in June it was closing the educational arm of the observatory due to financial constraints. Closing the centre will save the federal government approximately $250,000, according to the NRCC.
The NRCC said it would look at maintaining some form of public access on weekends and during special events but that has not yet been arranged and the closure is weeks away.
Don Moffatt, who conducted public education out of the observatory in the 1990s (before the interpretive centre opened in 2001), has also launched a petition he hopes will prompt the government to reconsider.
The former science writer notes his petition — at 1,083 signatures Friday — is online and non-partisan.
Although such an online petition cannot be officially presented to the government under House of Commons rules, Moffatt hopes it will demonstrate that a broad cross-section of people of all backgrounds and political stripes support the Centre of the Universe and place great importance on the facility remaining open.
The NDP urges supporters of the centre to sign both petitions.
The last public tours scheduled at the Centre of the Universe are July 30 through Aug. 24.
The online petition to save the centre can be found by searching for “Centre of the Universe” at change.org/petitions.
The written petition will be available at all south Island NDP MP and MLA offices and at public events throughout the summer.
