The freshly minted Paul Martin administration has burst out of the gates with the an initial outline of the government’s new structure, who the key players will be and the multifaceted role that S&T and innovation will play in strengthening the Canadian economy. The December 12 announcements — including the appointment of Dr Arthur Carty as national science advisor (NSA) to the prime minister (see page 5) and Joe Fontana as parliamentary secretary for science and small business (see page 4) — reinforce the importance being placed on S&T and how it will be integrated within overall government policy.

The structural changes relating to S&T go far deeper into the bureaucratic fabric than was achieved under the Chrétien administration, strongly suggesting that Martin and his team are clearly anxious to make their mark as successful economic and social innovators.

Nearly a dozen initiatives are lumped under the category of Building a 21st Century Economy, encompassing a series of new innovation-related appointments and support for several established and emerging niche sectors (see chart on page 2).

“The view of economic policy in this bucket called the 21st Century Economy includes S&T. But there is a growing realization that there are so many things within government policy that effect the productivity performance of the country,” says Peter Nicholson, a veteran S&T player and senior special advisor to the prime minister. “We need to look at the broader context which includes everything from human capital to US relations, as well as the overarching macroeconomic framework that has made Canada a more attractive place for research enterprises to start thinking about.”

Nicholson says the main message from the December 12 announcement is organizational and structural in nature, especially the strengthening of the position of parliamentary secretary. Parliamentary secretaries have been assigned a wide variety of new responsibilities including border transit, new and emerging markets, value-added industries, regulatory reform, agri-food and science and small business.

The latter — held by London MP Joe Fontana — is one of three parliamentary secretaries that have been equipped with their own secretariats and will report directly to Martin. The others are Nova Scotia MP and recent Progressive Conservative defector Scott Brison, responsible for Canada-US relations, and John Godfrey, with special emphasis on cities.

HANDS-ON APPROACH

Taken together, the three positions reflect the hands-on approach Martin appears to be taking with his new government and the importance he places on better relations with the US, S&T and community-based innovation. Martin will also chair cabinet committees for priorities and planning, global affairs, Canada-US relations and aboriginal affairs. The remaining parliamentary secretaries report to specific ministers (see chart page 3).

Canada has not had an official national science advisor to the PM since Robert Uffen, who served between 1969 and 1971 and the creation of the Minister of State for Science and Technology (MOSST). MOSST was active until 1993 when it was merged with the Industry department and the subsequent creation of the secretary of state of science, research and development. Last year, that position was reduced to part-time status under Dr Rey Pagtakhan, who also served as minister of Veteran Affairs.

The new Martin government’s emphasis on S&T and innovation has been met with enthusiastic support from members of the S&T community. Some express concern that the tight fiscal environment may constrain development of the currently languishing innovation strategy or delay the funding of ambitious proposals now entering the system. Others, however, see a review of government expenditures as an opportunity for S&T to come to the fore.

“I think program review would be great. It will allow money to be moved to higher priority items. We need to develop a more predictive system and use S&T as an integral part of the day-to-day policies of the government,” says Marc Lepage, Genome Canada’s executive VP. “The linking of S&T policy to mainstream political issues has a lot of potential.”

Lepage also praises the decision to appoint Carty as NSA, describing his experience as “unique in Canadian science”.

Another supporter of the new direction for S&T is Dr Howard Alper, vice rector at the Univ of Ottawa, president of the Royal Society of Canada and founder of the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE). Alper says the creation of an NSA and the strengthening of Industry Canada’s role in fostering innovation are welcome developments.

“It’s a coordinated and cohesive approach to research and innovation that positions Canada very well for the future,” he says. “We’ve created new tools in the past five or six years and now it’s time to look at how these fit together as well as how they fit with bodies that existed before.”

Alper credits PAGSE as a primary source of inspiration for the creation of the NSA, pointing to its recent presentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. PAGSE’s brief called for the creation of an office of science and innovation within the prime minister’s office to address what it described as a “gap in governance in Canada”. The office is intended to serve as a coordinator for research and innovation issues, and handle the coordination of big science issues.

Others point to last year’s report from the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, chaired by St Catharines MP Walt Lastewka, a long-time supporter of S&T. The report called for a more formalized mechanism for setting or modifying S&T policy and suggested that a science advisory body and/or chief scientific advisor reporting directly to Parliament would be the best course of action. The advisory body alluded to in the report is the Canadian Academy of Sciences, which was a key priority of former secretary of state for science, research and development, Dr Gilbert Normand (R$, October 23/00). At the time, Normand also argued that elevating his position to full minister’s status within the PMO could be an effective means of revitalizing federal S&T (R$, September 5/01).

NSA TO WORK WITH ACST AND FONTANA

The Martin government is proposing that the NSA work closely with the National Advisory Council on Science and Technology, a group that was revived by former Industry minister Alan Rock at the November/02 National Innovation Summit. The ACST had little impact on policy direction under the Chrétien regime but it recently submitted a report to Martin and is apparently being restructured. Officials at Industry Canada responsible for the ACST do not know why the word ‘National’ was added to the ACST’s name and have not been told whether more substantive changes to the Council are pending.

Some observers contend that, in addition to bodies like the ACST, the prime minister must also interact in a meaningful way with both industrial leaders and those within government who possess a deep understanding of how innovation works.

“The prime minister should have private dinners with innovation leaders and they must be one-on-one so he understands what the issues are,” says Dr John de la Mothe, a Canada Research Chair holder in innovation strategy and a professor of science policy at the Univ of Ottawa. “I would also be comfortable if Peter Nicholson, Art Carty and (Bank of Canada governor) David Dodge got together for dinner every once in a while.”

The most likely initiatives to occupy the early days of the Martin government are commercialization and an assessment or inventory of federal support for R&D. That agenda suits Dr Alan Bernstein, president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Bernstein has recently been promoting the value of knowledge translation and commercialization in health research, health care and health services. He is pursuing additional funding for CIHR’s proof-of-principle program and provincial health research agencies. He says the initial signals Martin has been sending on innovation and S&T are encouraging.

“I’m very very pleased with Martin, both his (September 18) Montreal speech and his announcements since becoming prime minister. He understands the importance of research in its own right and for the future of the country and the Canadian economy,” says Bernstein. “We need a more comprehensive approach to S&T and both the review (of federal R&D support) and the national science advisor are bang on. Arthur (Carty) is a great choice. He’s fair, forward looking and he understands health research.”

Nicholson agrees that commercialization and finding ways to finance early-stage companies will occupy the early portion of the Martin government.

“Look at Carty, Fontana and (Industry ministry Lucienne) Robillard. We’ve done a lot to upgrade the pipeline potential of university research. I would expect to see an increased emphasis on the commercialization of academic research,” says Nicholson, adding that he views highly qualified personnel as the major economic output from academic research. “Its time has come and there will be a determined focus to make this work better ... No country has learned to do this well. We all have our work cut out for us.”

The assessment of federal support for R&D is being viewed in some quarters as a possible repeat of program review under the early Chrétien administration. But Nicholson says the assessment and the new government’s intention to review all government spending are parallel, separate processes.

“It’s part of the larger exercise of expenditure review but it was not planned that way. It had an independent genesis,” he says. “There are so many vehicles out there, so much going on that even inside the system no one has a handle on it all. We need to take a look at this vital and dynamic area that has grown rapidly, but there are no strong preoccupations going into this.”

FMI on the Martin agenda, go to: http://pm.gc.ca/eng/chgs_to_gov.asp.

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