Liberal government positions STI as key driver for economic decision-making

Analysis

The election of a new Liberal government is unleashing a tsunami of positive reaction across Canada's S&T community as it reacts to pledges to address climate change, restore integrity to Parliament and pump new funding into clean tech and the Industrial Research Assistance Program.

But among the Liberal commitments gaining the most traction are its declaration that science-based evidence will be used for all decision-making and a strong directive to government scientists that they can now speak freely about their research to the media and the public.

After more than nine years of Conservative rule, the (often deliriously) enthusiastic response of groups and individuals from the scientific, technology and innovation (STI) sectors is unsurprising.

The three successive governments of former prime minister Stephen Harper became notorious for their top-down, command-and-control approach to governance and communication. The Harper government also ended annual increases to basic science and directed new research funding towards targeted, often industry-facing programs. Research managers and administrators had little choice but to enter an uneasy alliance with a government driven by talking points and often dubious claims of unprecedented R&D support.

Stories emerging from federal science-based departments over the degree of control imposed on scientists seeking to communicate their public-funded research border on the Kafkaesque.

Newly installed Treasury Board president Scott Brison is one of several recently installed Cabinet ministers to characterize the Harper government's approach to governing as "decision-based evidence-making."

The Liberal Party has made repeated pledges to use scientific evidence throughout its decision-making apparatus, although details on how that might work have not been released.

Department of Innovation Science and Economic Development

The strongest signal to emerge so far that the new government is serious about STI is the renaming of Industry Canada to the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) and the junior minister of Science has been retained.

How the two ministers will apportion the STI mandate was clarified with the November 13 release of Ministerial Mandate Letters that delineate areas of responsibility and identify specific requirements for action.

In a nutshell ISED minister Navdeep Bains will focus on STI as it relates to business growth, exports and innovation. The Science minister will support the ISED minister and have responsibility for scientific research and to integrate scientific considerations into investment and policy choices as well as selecting the inaugural chief science officer, which was pledged during the election campaign.

The Liberals' first official act of business to bring back the long-form census, reversing a tactically disastrous move by the Conservative government to replace the bedrock survey with a more expensive voluntary one (R$, October 30/14).

Its second official directive was to announce a complete removal of the restrictive approval process through which government scientists were forced to use for communicating with the public and media. As one Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientist has noted, "At an all-staff meeting today with some of the best scientists in the world … we were told that it's OK to talk to the media or anyone about what we do without permission. That's how surreal it was. That's how things changed overnight."

"Our government values science and will treat scientists with respect. That is why government scientists and experts will be able to speak freely about their work to the media and the public. We are working to make government science fully available to the public and will ensure that scientific analyses are considered in decision making. Canadians expect us to fulfill our commitments, including a more transparent and open government, and I am confident that we will accomplish great things for all Canadians." — Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

Scathing criticism of innovation policy

Criticism of the Conservative government's STI policies aren't limited to muzzled scientists. Dr Roger Martin, director of the Univ of Toronto's Martin Prosperity Institute and former dean of the Rotman School of Management, has described the current innovation policy as "useless and pathetic" — a sentiment echoed by colleague Dr Richard Florida.

"We have in effect wasted a decade under the previous Harper administration somehow believing our nation's economic future lay in natural resources," Florida told the U of T News. "So we have badly neglected innovation and productivity improvement and have fallen behind even further."

Fiscal limitations

The encouraging STI directives and statements by the new government have been largely cost-free but the few commitments the Liberal party made during the election campaign will require new funding to implement. For instance, its platform states that a Liberal government would "build the federal government's capacity to deliver on evidence-based decision-making and reinvest in the federal government's science and research capacity".

Other campaign commitments include $200 million annually for the tech sector with a focus on technology incubators and an "emerging national network for business innovation and cluster support", research facilities and small-business assistance.

The centerpiece of its support of STI is $300 million annually over the next four years for clean technologies and clean tech manufacturing in the natural resources (forestry, mining, fisheries, energy and agriculture).

How the government will pay for its commitments is becoming an issue of increasing concern. Last week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer revealed that the government is facing a structural deficit and expressed doubt that the books can be balanced by the Liberal Party's stated objective of FY19-20 — the year in which it pledged to reduce the federal debt-to-GDP ratio to 27%. The PBO's updated fiscal forecast does not include the measures announced in the Liberal Party platform.

External Advice

Whether there will be changes to external STI advice to government is another unknown. The Conservative government scrapped three science advice bodies when it assumed power and replaced them with the Science, Technology and Innovation Council. Contrary to previous advisory bodies, STIC advice to government was confidential, which drew criticism from many quarters, particularly the policy realm.

Little has also been heard from departmental policy shops but one senior academic official recently visited the ISED department and said policy makers are "chomping at the bit" to get back in the game and make a meaningful contribution.

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