Federal innovation agenda struggles to remain on government list of priorities

National summit moved back two weeks

Concern is mounting that Ottawa’s much vaunted innovation agenda is running into trouble as it heads into the final stretch. The one-day national summit slated for November 5th in Toronto has been re-scheduled for later in the month — likely the 18th or 19th — amidst fears that innovation is rapidly slipping down the federal government’s list of priorities. Complicating and possibly exacerbating the agenda’s declining status is the jockeying with the Liberal party to succeed prime minister Jean Chrétien, leading some observers to speculate that Industry minister Alan Rock may step down to focus on his leadership campaign.

The new date avoids following in the footsteps of an innovation event hastily convened by the Ontario government on November 5, which some view as an attempt to steal the federal government’s thunder (see page 5). But the national summit is now in direct conflict with the planned release of the long-awaited final report by Roy Romanow’s Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada. Given the high profile of health care, it’s believed the report’s release just before the summit will diminish the exposure of the innovation agenda, which has struggled to make an impact on the national consciousness.

The official announcement and explanation for the re-scheduling had not been announced by RE$EARCH MONEY’s press deadline, generating rampant speculation and opinions that vary widely according to who you talk to. Some say that Chrétien’s decision to speak at the summit is behind the delay. Although not confirmed, RE$EARCH MONEY has learned that the PM intends to address the summit.

Another explanation is the sheer volume of materials being compiled by the innovation secretariat. About 20 of the regional summits have been completed to date, leaving more than a dozen to come in the next two months. In addition dozens of meetings have taken place within the business community and written submissions continue to pour in, reaching the rate of 10 a day.

Michael Fine, executive director of the Innovation Secretariat, denies that information overload is behind the summit’s delay. He says there’s “a really good reason” for moving the date, but declined to comment until the minister’s office makes an official announcement.

“We were always tight on time with some of our regional events which are going on into October, although we didn’t mind that,” says Fine,” (The re-scheduling) gives us a couple of extra weeks.”

Others see a darker reason — Rock’s possible departure from Cabinet to mount a leadership campaign against former Finance minister and front runner Paul Martin. Rock has attended few of the regional summits held to date, and many question his commitment to the innovation agenda when so much more is at stake. He is the third Industry minister to assume the innovation file, and has had little time to embrace it in depth.

“Changing the date of the summit with just two months to go is not helpful,” says a senior government source. “If Rock decides he can’t wage a serious battle against Martin, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t chair it (the national summit).”

Concern over the fate of the innovation agenda spiked upward earlier this year when Martin was ejected from Cabinet, laying bare a covert leadership bid that shook the Liberal party to its foundations (R$, June 7/02). The latest developments and speculation essentially stem from the same political volatility. Senior Cabinet ministers have been forbidden from actively campaigning for the leadership, while the prime minister works to establish a legacy before his scheduled departure in early 2004.

Chrétien has arguably demonstrated lukewarm commitment to the innovation agenda since it emerged as a major thrust in the federal agenda several years ago. He has dispassionately supported the innovation agenda (and its predecessor the S&T strategy in the mid 1990s) in numerous speeches and in the last two election campaigns. With the PM on side, the government pushed through major funding increases for university research and infrastructure.Attractive tax incentives and assistance programs for private sector R&D were maintained, while corporate and personal income taxes were lowered. Whether innovation holds a prominent place in the upcoming Speech from the Throne is a matter of serious conjecture around Ottawa and throughout the research community.

“These things go in cycles and we’re on the down cycle. If the prime minister thinks he’s done with innovation it will slip off the agenda. It’s been an enormous investment so far but we can’t expect it to continue indefinitely,” says a government source. “Martin is a big supporter of innovation and he could bring it back, but that’s a long time off.”

The engagement process of the innovation agenda is supposed to lead to an overall vision and action plan which will be unveiled at the national summit. This is also the time at which the two parallel strands of the agenda (business innovation and human capital) are reunited. Bureaucrats and politicians will then return to Ottawa to craft an innovation strategy for the country, presumably designed to meet the objectives set forth in 2000 (R$, October 2/00).

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