Editorial - 25-3

A new program that's funding large-scale research into childhood cancers and rare disorders is shining proof that much can be accomplished with relatively little spending. The Advancing Technology Innovation Through Discovery Program is a joint initiative of Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. By committing $2 million each to two pan-Canadian research consortia, Canada jumps into the global lead in a critically important area of health research (see page 5).

While the joint initiative certainly makes sense from a research perspective, it'll likely serve as a increasingly attractive approach as Ottawa tightens the fiscal screws on government spending. All indications point to significant funding cutbacks in the forthcoming federal Budget. Main Estimates released this week reveal that Environment Canada and Natural Resources Canada will lose hundreds of millions of dollars from their budgets.

Some of the reductions can be attributed to the end of fiscal stimulus spending. But the cuts go deeper, targeting a variety of climate change, energy reduction and sustainable development programs. At the same time, hefty increases for prisons and security dramatically reduce the prospects of funding boosts for science and technology.

It's said that necessity is the mother of invention and it appears that Canada's engines of S&T and innovation will be learning this idiom the hard way. Collaboration and pooling of resources may be the only way to continue building on our excellent research base as the cry for return on investment grows ever louder.