Genome Canada Funding Confusion Continues
The Globe and Mail and CBC News continue to devote serious coverage to the apparent cuts to Genome Canada’s funding in the 2009 budget. Both sources quote government sources who state that the funding allocated to Genome Canada in 2007 and 2008 were to be rolled out over a five year span and that this money should be sufficient to last the organization until 2013. This arrangement appears to be a surprise to Martin Godbout, president of Genome Canada, who expected to receive roughly $70-million annually – the amount he presented to Industry Canada staff in a presentation he said was “well received”.
In an editorial, the Globe and Mail argues that the cuts to research funding in the 2009 budget confirms the short-sightedness of the Conservatives’ stimulus package. It argues that the infrastructure spending represents a short-term solution at the expense of the long-term productivity and value provided by research. The editorial board implies that the decision to spend on construction rather than research is politically motivated – that there are more votes for them among construction workers than among researchers.
The funding cuts are also making an impact internationally, as the major journal Science has published two pieces online detailing the cuts to research funding in Canada. Furthermore, the American-based journal has raised the possibility of a renewed “brain-drain” from Canada to the US, given the contrast between the Canadian budget cuts and the major increases in research spending in the stimulus package recently passed by the US Congress. Here, again, an Industry Canada spokeswoman argues that funding to Genome Canada isn’t being cut, but rather that the 2008 budget provdes funding through 2012-13. The articles quote leading scientists from across the country, however, who argue that the cuts will result in a loss of Canadian leadership in major scientific projects and will result in a loss of top talent to the US.
