For Canadian S&T and R&D, 2008 has been a year of dramatic swings with far more gut-wrenching lows than euphoric highs to rattle even the most battle-hardened veteran. The year began with the high-profile departure of the head of the Canadian Space Agency and the closure of the Office of the National Science Advisor.

Innovation has always been about more than R&D, but without it, companies and societies will find it far more difficult to achieve and maintain global competitiveness. That’s why the data recently release by Statistics Canada should be of concern.

Those expecting S&T to play a strategic role in stimulating the faltering Canadian economy were likely disappointed with this week’s Throne Speech and economic update. It’s one thing to assert support for a strong knowledge-based society and quite another to back up the rhetoric with effective, targeted programs and adequate financial resources.

If it’s true that good ideas bear repeating, then the latest report from the Conference Board of Canada may have hit a bull’s eye. The document is the result of a lengthy process of consultation and examination by a group of industry and institutional leaders and it pitches a handful of technology sectors it contends Canada should aggressively pursue (see page 3).

It was difficult to find any skeptics or detractors among those who assembled in Montreal earlier this week to participate in the third summit of the Canada-California Strategic Innovation Partnership (CCSIP).

Canada could be entering a bleak period for R&D. The collapse of the financial markets here and around the world have created a climate of fear in which new or even continued spending on key research and innovation programs are in jeopardy.

The demand for hospital research infrastructure greatly exceeds supply. One of Canada’s most respected entrepreneurs says the high-tech sector is in danger of being shipped offshore. Canada’s innovation system is under severe pressure and there doesn’t appear to be any willingness on the part of our federal elected officials to tackle urgent problems head on.

Canada’s role in international science must be improved if the country is to withstand the onslaught of globalization and rapidly expanding economies of nations such as India, China, Brazil and Russia.

An alarming new report on how successive governments have handled the intellectual property needs of federal laboratories should be a call to arms for major changes in policy or legislation. Sadly, it appears that the Conservative administration is about as likely to affect meaningful change as the Liberals before them.

The Canada California Strategic Innovation Partnership (CCSIP) has scored its second major victory with the creation of the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium (CSCC) and at least $100 million in funding over five years (see page 3).