Editorial - 27-15

Quebec's high-profile weighting of research and innovation in its new $2-billion jobs strategy is yet another example of the province's enlightened policy environment. is an aggressive, holistic approach for tackling persistent problems in the provincial economy that include high debt levels, sagging productivity and an unemployment level above the national average.

More than a quarter of the committed funding is devoted to research and innovation and a plethora of initiatives targeting specific industries that policy makers contend will help to diversify and strengthen economic performance.

The innovation component of the plan contains a wealth of details that illustrate the province's classic interventionist approach to economic development. Not so the research element. The plan repeatedly refers to Quebec's new National Research and Innovation Policy (NRIP) but that policy document has not been officially released. Therefore there are no details for the $200.8 million allocated to research. Until that component has been revealed, final assessment of the plan's merits must be withheld.

With last year's change in government, the NRIP (previously known as the Quebec Research and Innovation Strategy) was delayed. The Parti Québécois must move quickly to release the revamped policy so that the research community understands how their contributions fit within the larger industrial policy. How the plan aligns research and innovation and Quebec's business environment will make or break its success. As they say, the devil will be in the details.