Of the innovation-related commitments made by the Liberal government, the creation of a Chief Science Advisor is a key one. When a successful candidate is selected this spring, Canada will re-join dozens of nations around the globe that recognize the importance of ensuring government science is firmly wedded to the political and policy spheres.

Kirsty Duncan says Canadian science is back. However, details on how government plans to alter the existing research ecosystem will have to wait. In a recent interview with RE$EARCH MONEY, the federal Science minister was reluctant to divulge any specific observations or plans her government may have regarding science and research.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans should be commended for using new funds provided in the last Budget to boost its depleted research capacity and forge new partnerships and collaborations in ocean science and related fields of energy, marine conservation and climate change.

Effectively utilizing the National Research Council as Canada’s premium generator of new knowledge and economic advancement has bedevilled a succession of government going back decades. Most recently, the agency has been reeling from top-down changes engineered by the previous president to transform it into a world-class research and technology organization.

Bilateral R&D projects have long been seen as an effective vehicle for encouraging companies to bridge national divides for mutual benefit. The longevity of the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation is testament to the value it brings to our collaborating nations.

There are 13 academic research programs across Canada that have been given a remarkable opportunity to excel on the international stage thanks to a Harper-era initiative designed to scale up national research strengths.

Canada has succeeded in creating research and commercialization networks that have proven highly successful in stimulating knowledge-based scientific and economic activity. Many of these networks have been, or are currently funded, by the tri-council Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program — a Canadian invention that has been replicated by other nations.

Is the federal government hitting the re-set button on the National Research Council? That certainly appears to be the case with the appointment of Iain Stewart to a two-year term to assess the 100-year-old organization in the context of the forthcoming Innovation Agenda.

Have policy makers finally solved the puzzle to fixing Canada’s small and chronically underperforming venture capital sector? Based on 2015 performance and results from Q1/16, the results are certainly encouraging.