Speaking Points

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, PC, MP
Minister of State (Science and Technology)

Science and Technology Policy

The Economic Club of Canada
Toronto, Ontario
March 18, 2009

Check Against Delivery

Thank you, Mark, for the warm introduction. And thanks to the Economic Club for inviting me here today.

Your organization has a well-earned reputation for addressing important issues, exploring new ideas and engaging leading thinkers. Indeed, in many ways, you set the agenda for public discourse in this country.

So it is a real pleasure to be here today and to share with you our government's vision for science and technology (S&T) in this country — and its importance to creating the jobs of tomorrow.

Let me get right down to it, because I would like to leave some time for questions.

I am here with you today to discuss:

• Canada's S&T roots;
• our plan to promote S&T as an economic driver; and
• how you, the business community, can participate in and benefit from our S&T agenda.

Canada has a proud tradition — and a rich legacy — of scientific achievement. From Sir Sandford Fleming, the “Father of Standard Time,” to Abraham Gesner, who discovered kerosene and became the primary founder of the modern petroleum industry, Canadians have made discoveries and introduced products that have changed the lives of people around the world. With inventions as diverse as the pacemaker, insulin, the BlackBerry and, of course, the Canadarm, Canadians have demonstrated again and again that our best can be the world's best.

Today, that tradition of excellence continues. Even as we meet, researchers across the country are pushing forward the frontiers of knowledge. Developing new products. Making important breakthroughs. Conducting truly world-class science.

Right here in Toronto, for example, researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children are working to understand the genetic basis of autism, creating hope for a better life for millions of children and their families.

In centres across the country, Genome Canada is decoding the language of our genes, opening windows into the workings of life itself.

In Waterloo, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is contributing key concepts to fields as diverse as astronomy, neuroscience, pure mathematics and computer science. The Institute's reputation is such that internationally renowned scientist Stephen Hawking has agreed to become its Distinguished Research Chair and will conduct regular stays at the Institute, beginning this summer.

In aerospace, Canada boasts one of the largest industries in the world, with unmatched leadership in space robotics and satellite technology.

And our life sciences sector is among the top four in the world in its number of biotech firms — with the potential for discoveries that will save lives today and create jobs that will drive our economy for years to come.

In advancing the legacy of innovation and invention, Canada brings formidable strengths: the most highly educated population among the members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), world-class universities and colleges and leading-edge research facilities.

Our government is committed to basic discovery-oriented research. Compared with other nations, Canada is extremely good at supporting university-based research. We invest more in higher-education research and development than any other country in the G7 as a proportion of gross domestic product. We rank first among the G7 countries and our government's goal is to stay number one.

Last year, there were 4700 Canada Graduate Scholarships awarded in this country and over 1800 patents granted to Canadians. Our global reputation in academia is championed by our 1831 Canada Research Chairs. Our granting councils support close to 30 000 researchers.

So let there be no doubt — in a world where the future will be driven by ideas, innovation and ingenuity, Canada is well positioned to excel.

However, we have not done as well in commercializing our research — moving our ideas from universities and labs into the marketplace, where Canadians and people around the world can benefit from our discoveries.

Commercialization is one area in which our government plays a huge role in setting the stage to enable the private sector to do what it does best — turn knowledge into innovation, and innovation into greater wealth and well-being for Canadians.

Because we do not know where the next big idea will come from, our government also supports basic discovery-oriented scientific research. Canada is, and will remain, the best place for scientists and researchers to pursue their freedom to discover while we strengthen our capacity to make more of those discoveries available to Canadians through the marketplace. If we are serious about improving life and saving lives, if we want to create jobs and prosperity, if we want to help our environment and help victims of disease, then we have a responsibility. No, in fact, we have an obligation to get our ideas out the door and make them available to people around the world.

That is exactly what our S&T Strategy sets out to do.

Canada's long-term economic competitiveness depends, as never before, on ideas, innovation and inventiveness. Since Canada's S&T Strategy was launched by the Prime Minister in 2007, our government has invested more than $7 billion to help stimulate economic activity through large-scale S&T investments.

We know that the jobs of tomorrow are found in the discoveries of today, so we look at research funding as investment — in innovation, in scientific discovery, in job creation and as a hedge against tough economic conditions.

Now, when we talk about the S&T Strategy, what we are really talking about is how we — governments, business people and the research community — can band together to drive economic activity through science.

In order to achieve this, we are cultivating the creation of three distinct advantages:

1. an entrepreneurial advantage that encourages firms to be innovators;
2. a knowledge advantage that keeps Canadians at the forefront of research and discovery; and
3. a people advantage that helps Canadians acquire the skills they need to participate — indeed to lead — in an ideas-based economy.

Let me explain.

Our government recognizes that increasing business investment in research and development (R&D) is crucial to our long-term competitiveness. It is of the utmost importance that Canada has an entrepreneurial advantage to allow us to recover quickly from challenging economic times.

Of course, let us not be confused here. If the economy is to succeed and prosper, it will be in partnership with the government. You, the business community, is the main actor in this play.

If you take a look at investments we've made since 2006, you will see a pattern in this regard. For instance, our government created the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI) — a program that provides repayable support for strategic industrial research and pre-competitive development projects in the aerospace, defence, space and security industries. Since the creation of SADI in April 2007, our government has invested $150 million in aerospace, research and development that has leveraged $350 million in private sector R&D expenditures.

In Budget 2007, we allocated $11 million to create five new collaborative research networks, led by the private sector and focused on specific business research needs.

We also created the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program, which has, to date, funded 17 world-class centres to promote the commercialization of technologies, products and services.

In Budget 2008, our government introduced the Automotive Innovation Fund to leverage strategic, large-scale R&D projects to build innovative, greener and more fuel-efficient vehicles.

And most recently, in our Economic Action Plan, we added $200 million to the budget for the Industrial Research Assistance Program to help companies like yours bring technology projects to market and to hire new, highly skilled graduates.

We also boosted funding for the Industrial R&D Internship program to help graduate students find work in the private sector.

We have recently introduced amendments to the Competition Act and the Investment Canada Act. These amendments will enhance Canada's competitiveness, protect Canadian consumers and create jobs here at home.

In addition, we have made improvements to the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive.

By creating these conditions, the government is fostering an entrepreneurial advantage for Canadian business to excel through S&T.

Take, for example, the speech compression technology developed at the University of Sherbrooke, which has become a leading technology in the global telecommunications industry. To date, more than 156 licences for this technology have been granted to world-leading companies.

That's the kind of entrepreneurial advantage that Canada needs, and that's the kind of entrepreneurial advantage we're working to build.

Now, how do we create a knowledge advantage that keeps Canadians at the forefront of research and discovery? And, why, for that matter?

Let me start with the “why.”

Canada needs a knowledge advantage. Ideaspropel prosperity. Imagination and innovation create opportunity. As this audience well knows, knowledge is different from any other resource — it's endlessly renewable and, when shared and combined with other knowledge, it makes exponential progress possible.

Take, for example, the gigantic Canadian Light Source synchrotron in Saskatchewan. Larger than a football field, the synchrotron generates intense beams of light that analyze the molecular composition of material, opening up incredible opportunities to discover new medicines for treating cancer, develop better ways of detecting pollutants and create stronger metal alloys for space travel. It is one of the most advanced synchrotron facilities in the world, and it has put Canada at the forefront of research and discovery.

Successful countries, then, will be those that create knowledge by supporting research and encouraging new lines of inquiry — those that understand that today's research is tomorrow's technology, insight or cure.

To promote the creation of knowledge, our government has committed significant new funding for research through the granting councils — funding that is cumulative, ongoing and permanent. We have also invested $240 million in Genome Canada to support research over the next four years. We have invested millions of dollars in the Canada Health Infoway, as well as in the indirect costs of research.

These organizations invest in researchers who are doing some of the most exciting work anywhere in the world. But our scientists also need the tools to do the job.

That is why our government has provided over $1.25 billion for the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to support high-end research equipment, labs and other facilities. The research enabled by CFI is creating the necessary conditions for sustainable, long-term economic growth, including the creation of spin-off ventures and the commercialization of discoveries. It is also supporting improvements to society, quality of life, health, the environment.

Just last week, as part of our Economic Action Plan, we announced the new Knowledge Infrastructure Program— a two-year $2‑billion measure to support infrastructure enhancement at post-secondary institutions across the country. Presidents of colleges and universities told us that this was their number-one priority.

These investments will create jobs for people now, while providing the infrastructure that universities and colleges need for years to come.

Third, and perhaps most important of all, we have worked hard to develop a “people advantage.” At a time when creativity and competitiveness go hand in hand, the greatest engine of progress is the human mind. And while it is a cliché, it is also true — people are our greatest resource.

In every generation, at every stage of our history, Canadians have stepped up to meet the demands of their times. This generation has been no different. I'm talking about people like:

• Julia Levy of QLT, one of only a handful of people to take a biotech company from start-up to profitability;
• James Gosling, who created Java, one of the world's most-used computing languages; and
• Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis of Research In Motion, who combined wireless technology and the Internet to connect the world by BlackBerry.

It is people like these innovators who help realize our people advantage.

Two years ago, our government set an ambitious goal — to have the best‑educated, most skilled workforce in the world. To this end, we dramatically increased support for post-secondary education and committed new funding for skills training.

We have also expanded the Canada Graduate Scholarships program to support the greatest number of bright young minds ever. An additional 2000 master's students and 500 doctoral students will be able to advance their studies, deepen their skills and better prepare to capitalize on the opportunities ahead.

To recruit leading Canadian PhD students, and to attract leading international PhD students to Canada and to retain them here, we established the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship — a $50 000-per-year, tax-free scholarship that is among the most generous in the world.

To be the best, our students need to learn from the best. That's why we created the new Canada Excellence Research Chairs program, which will provide 20 researchers with $10 million each to establish their research teams as international leaders in their fields.

Through all of these efforts and all of these initiatives, Canada is creating a “people advantage” that will provide unprecedented opportunities for our students and a new generation of leadership for Canadian science.

Behind all of the programs and initiatives are a simple story and a single goal — to create a country driven by scientific excellence and animated by scientific potential.

That's been our government's overriding goal from the very beginning, starting with the S&T Strategy and continuing with significant, sustained and ongoing funding every year since.

All told, the Government of Canada's annual budget for S&T has now surpassed $10 billion. It is a substantial investment, but it is one that we believe will pay enormous dividends to Canadians for generations to come.

And that's what makes my job so exciting, and my outlook so hopeful. Because at their core, science and technology provide a foundation for hope. Hope for answers. For solutions to ancient mysteries and new challenges. Hope for jobs and whole new industries. Hope for new cures and new fuels. Hope for better crops to feed the world and new technologies to make that world sustainable.

But in those efforts, I need your help.

Canada has a rich legacy of discovery and innovation. But our future success depends on increasing our investments in R&D today. I am asking you to invest more in innovation, in ideas and in ingenuity. To this end, I am asking you to develop closer connections to universities and colleges.

Not only is R&D good for business, it's everybody's business. It is important to invest in ideas not only when times are good, but especially when they are not, because that is when the opportunities are greatest to create competitive advantages that will serve us well.

What will be your legacy? What kind of opportunities will you leave for the next generation?

The night of October 30, 1920, 28-year-old Frederick Banting was reading about diabetes research and took his medical journals to bed with him, where he fell asleep and dreamed. A few hours later, he woke up and scribbled down a brief paragraph — notes that led to his discovery of insulin. Two years later, the first insulin tests were undertaken on humans, with spectacular results, and Banting gave the formula for insulin to the University of Toronto in trust for the benefit of humanity.

Today, outside Banting's home in London, Ontario, a flame burns, dedicated to diabetics throughout the world. When we discover a cure for diabetes, the flame will be extinguished.

What is your dream, ladies and gentlemen? What legacy will you leave for the next generation?

The next discovery won't come from government. It will come from the drive and dreams of Canadians.

We have an exciting vision, but we need your help. If we work together to allow Canadians to follow their curiosity, we will create new opportunities and change the world in ways we can't even imagine.

Thank you.