The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research To Canada

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The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research to Canada Page 37© David A. Wolfe and Ammon SalterSSHRC 12.9 per cent (CAUT, 1997, p. 11). The magnitude of these reductions undeniablyrepresented a significant blow to the scientific community in Canada. In light of the numerouslong–term benefits of investing in basic research documented above, we are tempted to invokethe analogy of a government desperately eating its seed corn to cope with its current fiscalstraits!The last remaining hope for the research community was the S&T Review itself. However, aswe noted at the outset, the review was posed a number of questions at its inception withtroubling implications for that community. The review process itself was complex andinvolved. In addition to the numerous consultations held by the Secretariat, there were fourinterdepartmental committees at work, each of which produced an internal report, as well as areport issued by the National Advisory Board on Science and Technology. 24 One of the fourinterdepartmental committees dealt with some of the issues considered in this report. Itsconclusions were clear. The principle recommendation made in the final report of theinterdepartmental task group on the Advancement of Knowledge accentuated the importance ofadequately funding the research base in the post–secondary sector and the research intensivehospitals.The Task Group takes as its basic premise that Canada needs and must maintain astrong capability in fundamental research. . . . The Task Group therefore urges thegovernment to accord a high priority to ways and means of strengthening theuniversity research base in Canada (Government of Canada 1994d, p. 17).The federal S&T Review has been the subject of much discussion and some criticism, bothduring the period of its existence and since the release of its report. Part of the reason for theintense scrutiny to which it was subjected was the high expectations that it engendered in thescience and technology research community. The consultation itself was very inclusive,involving twenty-nine local meetings, five regional meetings and a final national meeting witha total of twenty-five hundred participants. There were few parts of this community notinvolved in the process to some degree. The inclusiveness of the process sustained the beliefthat the 1995 budget was a temporary step backwards and that the government intended achange in policy direction towards the goals articulated in its campaign platform of 1993 (de laMothe 1996, pp. 409-10).24 For a more detailed discussion of the review process itself and an assessment of the results, cf. de la Mothe1996.37
The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research to Canada Page 38© David A. Wolfe and Ammon SalterAfter a long travail of nearly two years, the results of the Review were finally released inMarch, 1996. The strategy established three related goals for building a dynamic andforward–looking Canadian innovation system: 1) Canada should be among the world’s leadersin “applying and commercializing S&T for sustainable job creation and economic growth,” 2)that S&T be applied in such a way as to maximize the quality of life of Canadians, 3) thatCanada retain and enhance its capabilities to advance knowledge in all major areas of scientificand technological endeavour. This last goal reflected the recommendations of the Task Groupon the Advancement of Knowledge (cited above). To be precise, the goal was. . . to create in Canada world centres of excellence in scientific discovery; to build abroad base of scientific enquiry; to foster Canadian participation in all major fields ofscience and technology; and to ensure that new knowledge can be acquired anddisseminated widely, from Canadian sources and from around the world (Governmentof Canada 1996, p.6).Having identified these four goals, however, the strategy then noted the overriding need for thefederal government to establish clear priorities for spending in light of the continuing pressureto reduce its fiscal deficit. As result of the reductions already underway, the report underlinedthe need for public spending to focus on core activities in the S&T policy area and to find moreefficient and effective ways to deliver those activities. The principal means identified forimproving on the efficiency of delivery mechanisms was the increased use of partnershiparrangements between government departments and agencies and other key components of theinnovation system. The strategy went on to identify the federal government’s core S&Tactivities as: 1) funding that research which supports the mandates of federal agencies, 2)providing research support to universities, the Centres of Excellence, and other nongovernmentalresearch institutes, 3) supporting private sector research and development, and4) disseminating knowledge, building information networks and acting as an informationanalyst (p. 10). In the section of the report which laid out the priorities and initiatives forsupporting research in universities and colleges, the review noted that fiscal constraint hadresulted in ‘some’ reductions to the budgets of the research granting councils, however, thegovernment was developing “innovative partnerships with the private sector as a means ofsustaining support for researchers” (p. 11).Despite the positive sounding rhetoric of the strategy document, the action plans associatedwith it fell short of the expectations that had been engendered. In the eyes of onecommentator, at least, “. . . it took too long to deliver and resulted in a feeling that the policyleadership developed by the government was lost. It was not as comprehensive as had beenpromised . . . [and] . . . suffered from the fact that ‘new’ programs, like the Technology38
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The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research To Canada

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