Editorial - 16-17

One can forgive the confusion swirling through the federal S&T community in the wake of the decision to yank FINE from going forward for Cabinet consideration. The FINE proposal – short for Federal Innovation Networks of Excellence – was supposed to be the magic bullet that would break the funding logjam that has bedeviled the government’s science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs) since the mid 1990s.

Now there’s talk of going a different route. Instead of the SBDAs extending their reach into emerging areas of science, some contend that they must first radically change their culture and modes of operation. It’s a notion being pushed by Dr Samy Watson, DM for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. And while there’s no evidence that the two approaches are mutually exclusive, there are fears that yet another campaign to boost federal science capacity has been waylaid.

FINE is just the latest in a long line of initiatives designed to breathe new life and inject more money into the federal government’s woefully underfunded S&T efforts. From Rust Out to Science Capacity and Northern S&T, each in turn has been aborted by Ottawa’s policy makers.

FINE was supposed to be different. The concept is sound and its reach appropriately focussed. It obviously found enough support that it was referred in the most recent Throne Speech. But that alone won’t guarantee success. FINE’s backers must keep up the pressure, strengthen their pitch and heal the apparent split that’s broken out amidst their ranks. It doesn’t deserve to be thrown on the growing pile of noble failures.