EBudget 2013: Continuing on the wrong approach towards scientific innovation

By Kennedy Stewart and Laurin Liu

Those hoping that the Conservative government would use the 2013 Budget to unveil a coherent strategy to overcome the challenges identified by the Jenkins report on innovation were bitterly disappointed. For seven years now, this government has operated without a compass when it comes to helping Canadian business modernize and increase productivity. In fact, they are undermining the source of scientific innovation itself through destructive cuts to basic research capacity.

The Conservative government can boast all it wants about investing more in science than any other government, but the facts say otherwise. Statistics Canada's latest report confirms that, last year, the Conservative government cut 6% of science and technology funding and laid off 1,500 employees working in the field. Canada devoted 1.8% of GDP to research and development in 2010, less than the 2.1% of GDP it spent in 2001. As Canada falls behind, other nations capitalize on their strengths in the global push for innovation. Under President Obama, the United States is now putting 3% of GDP into R&D, and that figure goes up to 4.5% in other countries.

Into the unknown: The National Research Council

In place of method and objectives, ideology. In place of public plans and substantive consultation, secrecy. Instead of proven evidence and expertise, uninformed assumptions. The haphazard approach of Conservative governance now focuses its sights on Canada's long-standing scientific institutions.

The National Research Council has long been a leading light for advancements in science and research in Canada. However, shadowy Conservative changes threaten to eclipse this venerable institution, and even those inside the NRC are being left in the dark as their colleagues receive notice that their positions are in danger.

Minister for Science & Technology Gary Goodyear has gone on record envisioning the NRC as a "one-stop, 1-800... concierge service" for business. The fact that the NRC has moved away from using peer-reviewed articles as a metric for measuring success - as confirmed by NRC President John McDougall before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science & Technology - is a troubling example of how the NRC is moving away from its roots as their mandate is being "refocused". Budget 2013 states that the push to transform the NRC mandate is "well underway," but our repeated attempts as Parliamentarians to extract any kind of measurable substance on what these changes will actually entail have gone unanswered. Their silence does a tremendous disservice to the honoured legacy of the NRC, and the scientists who continue in the vital work of the NRC today.

The Jenkins Panel recommended that NRC institutes performing basic research become the affiliates of universities, but with persistent cuts to basic research capacity taking place across Canada, it's difficult to find concrete evidence that this government actually sees a place for basic research. Platitudes, photo-ops and speaking points are not enough. Our government must invest in the long game of scientific innovation through robust and stable funding to labs and facilities conducting research across this country.

Conserving the scientific ecosystem

Budget 2013 trumpets meagre investments for the tri-council for partnerships with the private sector, but provides nothing for basic research to even begin to try to compensate for the damaging cuts that have already taken place. Cuts to scholarships and critical programs - like NSERC's Research Tools and Instruments grants - attack the hearth of fundamental, curiosity-driven research from which future breakthroughs will stem. During the debate over our opposition day motion to protect scientific freedoms, evidence-based policy and fundamental research, Minister Goodyear was eager to take political ownership of what Canadian scientists had achieved despite his government's cuts - but again, he failed to acknowledge the seminal impact of basic science and what we all lose when basic science capacity is lost.

The New Democratic Party recognizes the vital role applied research and industry collaborations play in the push for commercialization and bridging the innovation gap. That's why we support increased funding for organizations such as MITACS, a not-for-profit partnership of companies, government and academia that provides opportunities for both students and industry. However, we reject the false choice between applied research and basic science, and the uninhibited preference that this government continues to demonstrate for the former over the latter. Failing to recognize the role that a strong and robust iteration of each plays in our science ecosystem, and failing to implement policies that ensure that both sectors remain strong, hinders all of us.

Without funding to keep labs operational and to bring on talented graduate and post-graduate students, it will be even harder for those who have the talent and the drive to have the tools and supports necessary to break new ground. The prospective rewards that could be reaped over the coming decades are dependent upon the investments that are sown now - and the future of research in Canada is being put in jeopardy because of shortsighted policies that run against the long vision of scientific discovery itself.

The need for determined and committed action

Scientists across the country are recognizing this, and many are mobilizing to respond. We've seen these in the campaigns to save the Experimental Lakes Area and the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, and in mass demonstrations such as the Death of Evidence rally in Ottawa. What they continue to do is inspiring for us but also critical to the defence of science. Turning points such as these underscore the need for clear alternatives to those being advanced in Budget 2013, and in the policies of this Conservative government as a whole.

It is not enough to oppose - we have to propose as well. That's why we released last year Towards a National Science Policy, a discussion paper that lays the groundwork for a substantive science and technology policy for Canada. Driven by the response we've received to this paper from researchers across the country, over the coming months we will be proposing concrete policies to support scientific capacity along all stages of the innovation chain. Continued input from the front lines - the oft-praised but increasingly undermined cutting edge of research - is imperative.

The dissonant policies betray this Conservative government's lack of understanding about how scientific advancements actually take place. The undermining of scientific freedoms, systematic defunding of basic research capacity and environmental research, and dismantling of the NRC constitute attacks on the foundations of science in Canada. It is disappointing that despite the sustained outcry from the scientific community, the Conservatives still fail to grasp the adverse, concrete impacts of their decisions on scientific innovation. Despite this, and recognizing the stakes, we must all continue our push to put our country back on the right track.

Kennedy Stewart and Laurin Liu are the Official Opposition Critic and Deputy Critic for Science and Technology.