Editorial - 30-12

Is the federal government hitting the re-set button on the National Research Council? That certainly appears to be the case with the appointment of Iain Stewart to a two-year term to assess the 100-year-old organization in the context of the forthcoming Innovation Agenda.

History will ultimately determine whether the path the NRC has taken under the leadership of John McDougall was the correct one. Transforming the agency into a research and technology organization along the lines of Germany's Fraunhofer Society certainly has strong merit. But the manner in which the dramatic changes undertaken under McDougall's leadership polarized both staff and the STI community at large.

Under Stewart's leadership, the government will gain valuable insight into the changes that have been enacted and hopefully assess their impact on industry – the main reason for the changes and the NRC's raison d'être since its inception.

Uncertainty is never welcome for an organization like the NRC, with a multitude of partnerships — regional, national and global — that are intended to give Canadian industry cutting-edge expertise, competitive advantage and global opportunity. NRC's ability to function effectively during this period of assessment is therefore of concern from a variety of perspectives — staff morale, partnership stability, impact on industry and taxpayer value for its $1-billion annual budget.

We wish Stewart and the government well in their challenging task of righting a ship that Canadians rightly depend on for future growth and prosperity.