The Centre for Inquiry – Le Centre Pour l’Enquête

Are there limits to free inquiry? Where do values and ethics come from? Does science have all the answers? Should multicultural rights trump universal human rights? You’ve got answers? We’ve got questions.

The Centre for Inquiry promotes and advances reason, science, secularism and freedom of inquiry in all areas of human endeavour.
 

Where does CFI Ottawa fit in?

Promotion of Skepticism and Critical Thinking

One of CFI-Ottawa’s central mandates is to promote scepticism and critical thinking. We believe that an informed population is better equipped to make smart life choices, including within the realms of health, consumerism, and politics.

• 10^23 Campaign – On February 5, 2011, CFI-Ottawa and the Ottawa Skeptics joined forces to overdose on Parliament Hill as part of the international 10^23 campaign. Despite the absence of effectiveness in clinical studies, thousands of homeopathic remedies have been approved for sale in Canada. Furthermore, the homeopathic profession has recently been regulated by the Ontario government, adding credibility to what is little short of witchcraft. The goal of the 2011 overdose event was to inform consumers about what homeopathy really is and what it does (and doesn’t) do.

The overdose event was a huge success with over 30 people attending (and none experiencing overdose symptoms!), as well as some local media coverage from CTV. For more information about the event, check out our YouTube video on CFI-Canada’s ThinkAgain! channel.
 

Interfaith Dialogue

CFI-Ottawa believes that the atheist/non-believer perspective should be represented in the public sphere. To this end, we seek out opportunities to participate in interfaith dialogues and panels.

• Ask the Religion Experts – CFI representative Kevin Smith writes for the weekly Ottawa Citizen Ask the Religion Experts page (for both print and web editions), offering a non-believer’s perspective to questions of morality, ethics, and the practical applications of philosophy.

• Dialogue with Diversity Panel – On September 27, 2010, CFI-Ottawa President Seanna Watson represented the atheist community on a panel of eight speakers to answer the question: “How can all these religions advocate peace and promote human rights for all people?”

The Peace Week panel was sponsored by Dialogue with Diversity and moderated by Dialogue host, Dr Qais Ghanem.

• Cafe Scientifique – On September 28, 2010, CFI-Ottawa representative Steve Watson participated on a panel for Cafe Scientifique on the topic: “Science and Religion: Are they compatible?” The event was hosted by the Canada Science and Technology Museum and included three panellists, including two theists, to examine the question of whether we can and should reconcile the differences between science and religion.

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