Editorial - 21-15

The failure of the BIOCAP Canada Foundation to secure follow-on funding from the federal government is disturbing. By all accounts, the arm's length organization was achieving its mandate and involving a diverse range of industry players in its various consortium-building projects focused on using biomass for alternative energy sources and combating global warming (see page 6).

According to BIOCAP's president and CEO, the problem was with the interdisciplinary, multi-sectoral nature of BIOCAP activities. Apparently the organization's relevance spread over several government departments, which were unable to provide a coordinated response. With the serious fiscal pressures facing Environment Canada — the department whose mandate most applies to BIOCAP — and an important research initiative has been needlessly curtailed.

There's some irony to this since government policy makers say research must bridge sectors and disciplines to give Canada a competitive advantage in the emerging global knowledge-based economy. Add to that the current government's rhetoric about achieving a sustainable bioeconomy, and BIOCAP's inability to secure funding makes little sense.

The federal government is stepping up to the plate to assist the bioeconomy's downstream activities (see lead story). But by neglecting the research base, those efforts can't be sustained. Canada must continue to explore ways to achieve independence from finite energy sources and biomass must be part of the mix. Without BIOCAP bringing the sectors together, that task has become more difficult.