2012 has been a tumultuous year for Canadian S&T. From protesting scientists to continuing weakness in business R&D, the future of innovation in this country is far from clear. Reports released this year show that the excellence of Canadian research is world class but the sectors relying on that research are suffering from a lack of clear policy direction.

Earlier this week, Industry minister Christian Paradis made his first public comments on the federal Aerospace Review, which was unveiled November 29th. In addition to praising the work of companies in the aerospace and space sectors, Paradis acknowledged that industry is facing pressures and challenges ranging from the high Canadian dollar to competition from emerging nations.

You don’t often hear industry championing the need for more basic research to safeguard its sector’s global competitiveness. Yet, that’s what farmers and commodity groups have been telling the Senate’s agriculture committee as part of its year-long review of Canada’s research and innovation efforts.

You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. That appears to be the dilemma the federal government faces as it works to re-balance its support for business R&D between indirect (tax-based) incentives and direct program assistance.

While most agree that the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program has been one of the most successful additions to Canada’s small arsenal of commercialization programs, there was widespread concern that its finite funding window (five years) constituted a major policy flaw.

Canadian researchers are among the best and most accomplished in the world — that’s one of the inescapable conclusions that can be drawn from the latest expert panel report from the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA).

The latest data for federal spending on scientific activities doesn’t paint a pretty picture of the current trajectory for government support of innovation (see page 3). Over the past two years, the Harper government has shaved nearly $1.

Is NSERC fulfilling its mandate and if not, who’s to blame? The issue is the dominant focus of discussion in academic circles these days as tight budgets and an activist government are resulting in some difficult choices at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

British Columbia has released a new Technology Strategy that recognizes the key role technology and innovation play in all major sectors of the provincial economy. The strategy’s holistic approach combined with the launch of a review of past S&T expenditures is decidedly utilitarian when compared to the strategy now under development in Quebec, which encompasses the social sciences and humanities (R$, July 5/12).

The Quebec government should be congratulated for learning from past missteps and opening up the development of its new research and innovation strategy to the broader industrial and economic community.