Editorial - 20-8

The official response to the recent Budget from the research and technology sectors can only be characterized as polite. Qualifiers abound as officials responsible for the research and innovation agenda react to the near absence of initiatives in support of their portfolios. Perhaps the most repeated sentiment is that the expectations were so low going into the Budget, any measures supporting R&D must be seen as a sign that the new government is serious about S&T and its critical underpinning of an innovative economy.

But what about the sense of urgency that so many recent studies have trumpeted? Are not China, India, Brazil and others rapidly moving up the innovation food chain and challenging nations like Canada. Doesn't our small size and heavy reliance on trade with the US make Canada especially vulnerable? And isn't the booming energy sector lulling many into a false sense of security about the future?

The Conservative Budget delivered on exactly the platform it promised to the nation. And as a first step towards making Canada more competitive, many of its fiscal initiatives are welcome. But there's more to developing an innovative economy than low taxes. There's vision, creativity, leadership and champions at the highest levels of government, business and academia.

These qualities were nowhere to be seen when Finance minister James Flaherty rose to deliver his government's fiscal recipe for the coming year. What we received was a pre-election Budget every bit as partisan as the Liberals' Economic and Fiscal Update last November —just, not as S&T-friendly.