Conservatives continue strategy to link science, commerce
Last week, the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, announced a new Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR). Perhaps not unconsciously, the name of the Centre seems to reflect the order of priorities for the Conservative government when it comes to funding science. The increased requirement for industry partnerships for grant proposals, emphasis on commercialization of research results, and increased investment by the private sector in research are outlined in the current government’s Science and Technology Strategy, released in 2007. The new Centre will include funding for Waterloo’s Corridor for Advancing Canadian Digital Media and Kingston’s GreenCentre Canada, with others presumably to be announced.
Goodyear also announced the creation of two new Business-Led Networks (BL-Networks) in Montreal. BL-Networks are industry-led research networks focused on “specific business research needs”. In this case, a total of $17-million will be given to the Canadian Forest Nanoproducts Network (ArboraNano) in Pointe-Claire and the Québec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM) in Montréal. I’m not sure what forest nanoproducts are, but I bet $8.9-million will buy a lot of them.
