SPEAKING NOTES FOR THE HONOURABLE JOHN MANLEY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY TO YALE UNIVERSITY DEAN’S DISTINGUISHED LECTURE NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT MARCH 26, 1998

   

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for your kind introduction, and thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for this opportunity to address you today.

It is a great honour to participate in the Dean's Distinguished Lecture. The 'Distinguished Dean's Lecture" might be a more appropriate term. Most of you are familiar with Dean Bromley's academic and public service accomplishments. You know of his advocacy of increased investment in science and technology and his work to promote international co-operation on S&T issues and projects.

But for me, the most important thing to know is that Dean Bromley was born in Canada and received his Bachelor’s and Master's degrees from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

Canada and the United States not only share Dean Bromley; we share the world's longest undefended border. We share heritage, history, and values. We share a heritage based upon the common ancestry of our democratic institutions. We share a history that was forged in wars in which we fought on opposite sides in 1775 and again in 1812 -- and wars in which we fought side by side in this century.

And perhaps it is not surprising that we share so many values: our confidence in the future, our steadfastness in protecting the rights of the ordinary citizen; our assurance that fair and open markets create opportunities for all; and the way our societies have welcomed those who have come to our shores from around the world, seeking freedom from oppression, and opportunity for themselves and their families.

We also share the world's largest trading relationship. Every day, three quarters of a billion dollars In trade crosses our mutual border.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CULTURE

It should come as no surprise that our relations In science and technology are every bit as complex and as large in scope as our partnerships as two friendly, adjacent nations allow. As far as Canada-US S&T is concerned, the international border is a very porous membrane indeed.

You find it in trade of high technology products. Canada imports nearly three-quarters of its high technology products from the United States; it exports nearly two-thirds of its high-tech products to the US.

You find it in recruitment of skilled scientific and technical personnel. Microsoft recruits a third of its programmers from the University of Waterloo, in Ontario.

You see it in the formal S&T relationships between our governments. There are a hundred distinct government arrangements between Canada and the United States; they oversee some 500 collaborative research ventures.

You see it on the campuses of universities such as Yale. Canadians and Americans have been crossing the border to study and teach at one another's universities, and to work in one another's research facilities for generations. There is no better example of this than John de la Mothe who teaches here at Yale as well as in Ottawa. John has been instrumental in arranging my visit to Yale today and also arranged a similar lecture a year ago for Dean Bromley at my Alma Mater, the University of Ottawa.

Today I want to look at some of the similarities as well as the differences between Canadian and American approaches to science and technology. I want to talk about the role that S&T plays in public policy.

A KNOWLEDGE-BASED SOCIETY

Americans and Canadians today live in a global society in which knowledge and innovation drive prosperity. The knowledge revolution is changing the basis of success for individuals, businesses, communities and nations. It is breaking down the barriers of time and distance. It is redefining old notions of competitive advantage -- giving greater prominence to the quality of people's skills and the inventiveness of their ideas. It affects all sectors of the economy. It helps determine quality of life- and life expectancy. It has become part of everything we do.

To meet the demands of our knowledge economy, both nations face the challenge of developing a learning culture. It will spark the continuous improvement and the creation and application of new ideas that we need.

PUBLIC POLICY

This has had a profound Impact on where we position science and technology Issues in public policy. In both Canada and the United States, S&T policy has been gravitating from the periphery of public policy to its centre. The process has been going on for some time in both countries.

You see it in the proposed budget of the current administration. Fiscal 1999 is the sixth budget year in a row that the President has proposed increased investments in research and development -- to a total of $78.2 billion.

The centrepiece of your President’s R&D proposal is the $31 billion 21st Century Research Fund. It supports civilian research programs in a very broad spectrum of your federal departments and agencies.

In Canada, nearly two dozen departments, agencies and Crown corporations are involved in S&T related activities: everything from Health Canada to Atomic Energy of Canada; from the Canadian Space Agency to the Canadian Museum of Nature; from the National Research Council to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. We have a pluralistic funding system for Science and Technology, but I have the overall responsibility for coordinating the science policy activities of In the Canadian government.

PARADIGM SHIFT

The range and variety of these Institutions has presented a challenge. Not only must S&T issues move to the centre of public policy, the approach must deal with broad, horizontal issues. This has presented challenges for how we govern S&T in federal institutions, and I'll return to that later.

But the emerging need to collaborate horizontally across departments and agencies is a part of a much greater paradigm shift that emphasizes the virtues of partnership and cooperation. It has come about at the same time as -- and perhaps because of -- a new spirit of International harmony and cooperation.

We have moved from an era in which the preoccupation was the Cold War to one in which we seek solutions to the problem of Global Warming. From the deterrence of foreign aggression to the deterrence of disease. From reconnaissance of military opponents, to the mapping of the human genome.

The shift in priorities has produced a change in attitudes in the R&D community. When R&D is directed at military applications, it must be secretive. It does not lend itself well to broad-based, horizontal approaches to solving problems. The science, technology and engineering communities under such circumstances tend to become organized around vertical hierarchies, with Information passed on a need-to-know basis.

By contrast, today's challenges are so complex and ubiquitous, and the time frames for finding solutions so short, that our only hope is to collaborate and cooperate.

Simply put we have moved from a paradigm of government spending to a paradigm of partnerships between stakeholders where both risks and rewards are shared. We have moved from a pattern of national government contributions to R&D to increasing global investment which links trade, investment and S&T objectives.

For example, the building of the International Space Station. The Cold War produced a space race in which both the United States and the Soviet Union invested massively in space exploration and development. But in the 1990s, no one country would want to undertake so complex and expensive an undertaking as a space station on its own. So it has become a truly international collaboration, bringing together Russia, Japan, the European Community as well as Canada and the United States. Canada's contribution will be the Mobile Servicing System that will assemble, maintain and service the Space Station.

Other challenges invite collaboration in private sector R&D. For example, the agreement between Ballard Power Systems of Vancouver and Ford Motor Company to install a Ballard hydrogen fuel cell in a Ford 2000 prototype passenger car. The agreement reminds us of the immense challenge of our Kyoto commitments. Neither Canada nor the United States will be able to meet those targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions unless there is a concerted, collaborative effort to develop now technology as well as better research understanding of the underpinnings of climate change.

One example of International collaboration that I am particularly excited about, is the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). The US with the UK is a major contributor to Canada’s Sudbury Neutrino Observatory project (SNO), continuing a tradition of co-operation in the field of high energy physics. I was in Sudbury at the beginning of this month to tour this unique laboratory which occupies a mine shaft more then one mile under ground. Stephen Hawking will be joining us for the official opening ceremony in late April.

I understand that Dr. Hawking recently presented a lecture on science in the next millennium as a part of a continuing lecture series associated with the White House Millennium Initiative. Both of our nations have decided to concentrate our millennium celebrations around themes of innovation, science, youth and education recognizing that these will be central ingredients for prosperity in the 21st Century.

S&T STRATEGIES

The new paradigm of collaboration and co-operation requires initiatives that cut across the traditional boundaries of public policy.

In your country, the recent increases in the R&D budget targets investments that include several agencies, including:

In Canada we have sought a way to systematically coordinate the many elements of federal science and technology policy. Two years ago, we tabled a federal S&T Strategy that was the result of a comprehensive nation-wide review that included public consultations, an internal federal review of policies, and an external review by our advisory board on Science and Technology.

The Strategy sets out the broad directions for government S&T. It outlines a strategic approach to how the government will develop federal policies and programs. And it was complemented by action plans tabled by ten Cabinet ministers responsible for science-based departments and agencies.

The S&T Strategy identifies three goals for federal science and technology: sustainable job creation and economic growth; improved quality of life; and advancement of knowledge. All three objectives must be integrated so they reenforce one another. And they must rely upon partnerships and networks to enhance the ability of Canadians to share information.

MAKING CHOICES

Canada's S&T Strategy also emphasized the need for better governance of the federal S&T effort. We created the Advisory Council on Science and Technology, made up of eminent Canadians from across the spectrum of the Canadian economy.

This Council provides its advice in confidence to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Union. This Cabinet Committee plays a prominent role in reviewing federal S&T plans and performance and making annual recommendations on S&T priorities and directions. Such attention by one of the most powerful Cabinet committees has helped immeasurably to move S&T to the centre of government decision making; and our recent federal budgets have confirmed that impact.

ACST and the President's Committee of Advisors on S&T (PCAST) held a joint meeting last September. It was the first of what I hope will be more of such encounters. We have much to learn from each other.

A governance model such as this helps us perform one of the most important but least palatable responsibilities of science and technology policy. We have to make tough choices. We cannot afford to finance all the worthy S&T proposals that are brought forward.

LEVERAGING FEDERAL INVESTMENT

The Strategy also highlighted a critical role for the federal government in Canada’s overall system of innovation. Federal expenditures account for 21 percent of Canada's total R&D expenditures. Our provincial governments account for another five percent.

Our Strategy has emphasized the need to leverage this investment to obtain more S&T expenditures by Canadian industry, academic institutions, volunteer organizations and other governments. For example, we will invest $800 million in the Canada Foundation for Innovation to support the research infrastructure in Canadian universities and research hospitals. We expect that our investment will help foster a total of $2 billion in investment through partnerships with public research institutions, other governments, and the private sector.

We launched Technology Partnerships Canada -- TPC -- an innovative program to leverage investment in development and commercialization of aerospace, the environmental, and enabling technologies. Along with the risks inherent in the development and commercialization of innovative technology, TPC shares the rewards of successful projects. It applies a market discipline to its choice of partners, investing in projects that it believes will be profitable over the long term. Repayments earned from these investments will support future investment activity.

One of the most successful programs to leverage further investment in R&D and encourage collaboration and cooperation has been the Networks of Centres of Excellence. The networks bring together over 1,000 top researchers, 1,400 graduate students, and 450 post-doctoral fellows across Canada. They come from 48 universities, 400 firms, 37 hospitals and 76 federal and provincial government departments. More than 60 U.S. firms, organizations and subsidiaries are included in those numbers. They work on projects that cover such areas as bacterial diseases and genetic diseases, intelligent systems and robotics, microelectronics, protein engineering, and tele-learning.

By teaming-up academic institutions, government laboratories, and private sector research facilities, the networks provide critical mass for research projects. The networks have helped accelerate the transfer of technology among its partners They have enabled small and medium-sized businesses gain access to the latest technology. They have spun off new businesses. And perhaps most interesting for this audience, the young researchers and students who have been associated with Networks of Centres of Excellence have been very successful in finding work in their professions. In fact, the rate of employment of students from the Program is close to 100 percent.

CONNECTING CANADIANS

But one priority that has emerged from the process of reviewing our S&T programs and making tough choices is the need to build the infrastructure for the 21 at century and -- just as important -- equip Canadians to use it. We want to make Canada the most connected notion in the world by the year 2000, and we have introduced a six-point agenda to help us reach our goal.

The first component I call "Canada on-line." By the year 2000 we want to provide all Canadians, wherever they are with the opportunity of access to a worldleading information highway infrastructure. All Canadian schools will have Internet access by the end of this year. By the year 2000 we want every community with more than 400 people to be plugged into the information highway.

The second component of our agenda is to create "Smart Communities.' By the year 2000 we will support the establishment of up to 20 of these "Smart communities" in Canada. They will be recognized for world-leadership in using information technologies for economic and social development.

The third component: put government services on-line. We made considerable progress on this front with new on-line business information services such as Strategies, Export-Source and Canada Business Map.

Fourth, electronic commerce. By the year 2000, we want to establish Canada as the world's best legal, commercial and technological environment for electronic commerce. We have much to share on electronic commerce, we need to cooperate with the private sector and other governments to establish a framework for the conduct of electronic commerce in Canada and around the world. I have invited my OECD counterparts including Secretary Daly to come to Canada in the fall of 1998 for discussions to develop the global framework.

Fifth, put Canadian content on-line. By the year 2000, we want Canada to be a leading supplier of multi-media content in priority economic, social and cultural areas.

And finally, our sixth component for the agenda to connect Canadians is to promote a connected Canada to the world.

SAME CHALLENGES; SIMILAR RESPONSES

Ladies and gentlemen, President Clinton has outlined similar plans and goals for an American information highway strategy. The goals and ambitions of both nations in most aspects of S&T are very similar. This should come as no surprise.

Our two nations address the same challenges. How to bring people together across a vast land mass? How to tap the global opportunities given to us by our transcontinental nature?

How to use technology to promote democratic government and liberate market forces? How to maintain a competitive industrial edge so that we can build jobs and growth at home by selling products and expertise to the world?

As we approach the 21st century, an over-riding challenge is emerging: how to respond to a new economic revolution? How to provide prosperity where there is now potential, results where there is now vision, and hope where there is now uncertainty.

These challenges underscored the State of the Union Address last month. President Clinton outlined many of the challenges your nation faces in responding to the knowledge economy. His words resonated with great familiarity in Canadian ears. We're responding to the same challenges.

And many of the solutions offered are similar. Both the President and our Prime Minister have placed a very strong emphasis on the role of education. The State of the Union Address outlined a new plan he entities, A Call to Action for American Education.

The Budget that Canada's Minister of Finance brought down the same month introduced a similar broad range of initiatives. We call it The Canadian Opportunities Strategy.

President Clinton's package includes America's HOPE Scholarship, a tax deduction for tuition, an expanded IRA for education, and an increase in Pell Grant scholarships.

The Canadian Budget included Millennium Scholarships for students in financial need, changes to the tax treatment of tuition, government contributions to Registered Education Savings Plans, and more money for post-graduate studies.

COOPERATIVE PROJECTS

From the similarity of approaches to the common challenges we face, we have the opportunity to work more closely together than ever before.

A year ago, Prime Minister Chr*tien met with President Clinton. They said they both counties would explore new opportunities for cooperating in science and technology projects. The areas of collaboration include:

That's a broad agenda. It underscores what I said at the beginning of my remarks about the broad reach of Canada-U.S. collaboration in S&T, and the complexity of the issues involved.

To emphasize the breadth and strength of Canada-US cooperation, I'm very pleased to release today a publication entitled Partners for Progress; The Canada US Science and Technology and Innovation Relationship. In it, you will find information on some of the initiatives I've spoken of today, as well as many more too numerous to detail in this lecture.

MORE TO BE DONE

Both Canada and the US have a commitment to maintaining world-class, leading edge research, and to ensuring a steady support for contributions to advance knowledge. We are both committed to ensuring that citizens have the proper tools to adjust to technological change.

We are working together on serious global problems: from global warming to halting the spread of emerging infectious diseases. We are working together to extend the frontiers of knowledge: from the development of space to mapping the human genome. We face many of the same complex ethical issues that the emergence of knowledge brings: from the peaceful use of nuclear energy to ethical limits to biotechnology.

Today I would like to use the occasion of this lecture to call upon the S&T and engineering communities in both countries to find even more ways to collaborate and cooperate. We can do a lot together. We can also do a lot in partnership with other nations.

How can we expand our partnership to support innovation with our other partners in the Western Hemisphere? Can we promote the capacity for industrial innovation and skills development and training in the Americas? What opportunities can we respond to in our participation in the OAS and through the forthcoming Summit of the Americas in Chile?

How can we reshape our S&T institutions to more effectively meet the challenges of the Knowledge Based Economy?

Can we find a way to address the shortages we both face on the availability of scientists, researchers, engineers and technicians7

In his memoir on Presidential advice, Dean Bromley writes about the importance of re-establishing a sense of trust and shared purpose between the federal government and the private sector. How can both countries work together to restore that trust?

Dean Bromley's book also quotes Sir Ernest Rutherford -- another eminent scientist, by the way, who spent part of his career in Canada. "Scientists and engineers had best look after their own affairs,' he said, "because if they don't then the bureaucrats will -- and then God help them." How can we encourage the exchange of ideas between the science community and public policy makers -- and help this advice cross national borders?

Canada and the United States have the most extensive S&T cooperation in the world. We've always worked closely together. But in the knowledge economy, we will have to work more closely than before.

I hope to build on our partnership. I know that there are people in this lecture hall who participate in the partnership already in place. Now is the time to maximize the benefits of this relationship to make more strategic use of our resources. The PM and the President started this process last April but we can't lose that momentum.

I understand that in your country, a Committee of the House on Science is examining many of the issues I have raised today, asking such questions as "How can we make the most effective use of government/university/industry research partnerships?" and "How can the USA best benefit from and contribute to international cooperation in research?"

Clearly these are important questions for both our nations, ones that require collaboration and partnership between governments and universities, between different levels of government and between nations. We would welcome the opportunity to strengthen our partnership, to broaden it, and spread its benefits to citizens in both our countries so that we can chart a new agenda for S&T, one that rises to the challenges of the new economy.

Thank you.