Editorial - 24-10

It's time for Canada to energize its S&T enterprise and gain critical ground against its competitors. With many competing nations reeling under unmanageable debt loads, stepping up Canada's S&T game and leveraging the untapped potential of our relatively robust economy could yield significant long-term dividends.

An important first step is to re-establish the National Research Council (NRC) as the premier conduit between science and industry. Currently demoralized and in a seemingly endless holding pattern, the NRC now has new leadership and is developing a new strategic plan. Use both assets to bring the mother ship back into the mainstream with a quiver of fresh ideas and renewed momentum. Rather than view the refunding of the NRC's cluster initiatives for a two-year period as a regressive policy move, try to see it as an indication that the government is preparing for a major overhaul that requires coordination and timing.

The same could be argued for any number of key S&T mechanisms from Genome Canada to the Canada Foundation for Innovation, which has a new contribution agreement with government awaiting the minister's signature.

In many respects, the provinces are leading the charge of harnessing their S&T assets for social and economic gain. Alberta, Ontario and others have re-organized those assets and are now engaged in discussions to leverage each other's strengths. A strong federal presence at last week's meeting of S&T ministers in Quebec City is a hopeful sign that a new era of S&T cooperation could be upon us.