Scott Findlay, associate professor and member, the Univ of Ottawa's Institute for Science, Society and Policy.

"It's the knowledge economy, stupid"

By Scott Findlay

A dominant theme during the federal election campaign has been the state of the Canadian economy. Why? Because this is, apparently, the issue that is foremost in the minds of Canadians. Mr Harper, Mr Trudeau and Mr Mulcair all admit the economy is not doing so well. All have a plan, which (we are told) will kick-start and grow it.

Mr Harper will lower taxes and balance the budget. Mr Mulcair will tax corporations and use the recouped monies to create affordable day care, while also balancing the budget. Mr Trudeau will tax the rich more, invest the money recouped in infrastructure, and not balance the budget – at least not for three (or possibly more) years.

But all three seem to have forgotten two things that Canadians know very well. First, the economy of today is increasingly a knowledge economy; the economy of tomorrow will be even more so. Even if one believes that the path to economic salvation lies in hewing more wood and drawing more water (or oil), one needs knowledge to do so in an efficient, cost-effective and sustainable manner.

Second, the science of today is the knowledge of tomorrow. The history of human knowledge is, for the most part, the history of science: physical science, natural science, or social science. Yes, there is knowledge that transcends science, and there are important — indeed critical — questions about which science has little to say. But look around you: what in the world isn't science?

If (a) the science of today is the knowledge of tomorrow, and (b) the knowledge of tomorrow is the economy of the day after tomorrow, then (c) the science of today is the economy of the day after tomorrow.

One would think that the state of Canadian science would figure prominently in debates among our leaders about how best to stimulate the Canadian economy. Not so. Of the questions posed to the leaders during the recent Globe and Mail debate on the economy, how many were about science? None. How many times did the leaders mention science? Not once.

In that debate, Canada's national newspaper and the three leaders all missed the knowledge economy boat. Whether Ms May would have missed it is unclear: she was not wanted on the voyage and wasn't invited.

If the science of today is the economy of the day after tomorrow, it behooves us to consider the health of Canadian science. Federal investment in science and technology, as a percentage of GDP, dropped from 1.99% in 2005 to 1.62% in 2013, the last year for which data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are available. During the same period, many OECD countries increased investment: the current OECD average is 2.36%.

Even more worryingly, business investment in R&D has been dropping steadily, from 1.18% of GDP in 2005 to 0.82% in 2013 — half the OECD average. A recent report by the Conference Board of Canada gave Canada a "D" for business investment in R&D (BERD), ranking it 15th of 16 comparator countries. This despite a science, technology and innovation strategy, launched in 2007, designed specifically to encourage business research and development.

Canada's BERD performance has been underwhelming for decades. But its continued deterioration is especially problematic now. As the Conference Board points out, the Canadian economy is at the point where the risks of not investing in R&D outweigh the risks of doing so.

If the science of today is the economy of the day after tomorrow, an economic plan that will provide jobs both today and in the future is one that directly tackles the question of how to develop and harness Canada's scientific potential. Yet on this critical question, all three prime-ministerial hopefuls have been all but silent.

So it would appear that, whoever forms the next government, Canadians will be left standing on the pier, waving forlornly as the ship of the knowledge economy steams away. That's a vision worth contemplating. And debating.

Scott Findlay is an associate professor of biology and a member of the Univ of Ottawa's Institute for Science, Society and Policy.