Crumbling infrastructure puts federal labs in jeopardy.

Contrary to dire warnings in a National Resources Canada (NRCan) internal report about crumbling infrastructure at federal labs, the roof isn't ready to cave in at Sault Ste. Marie's Great Lakes Forestry Centre, insists its regional director general.

"Walls are not collapsing around us," says Pardeep Ahluwalia, "but that doesn't mean investment is not needed."

Ahluwalia was responding to an internal audit conducted by NRCan on their research properties across Canada.

The regional property audit says capital reinvestment in buildings and for operations and maintenance is so "inadequate" there are long-term risks of major breakdowns, and the possible closure of some facilities. It states that ongoing research projects and data "could be jeopardized."

The Great Lakes Forestry Centre (GLFC) was mentioned in the cross-Canada snapshot of NRCan deficiencies in governance, decision-making and funding, but gave no details on specific problems at the institute.

The Canadian Press obtained the January report under the Access to Information Act, but the audit is now posted on the Natural Resources Canada website.

More than 40 people, including Ahluwalia, were interviewed in a survey and the audit team toured four facilities, including the 29-year-old Sault facility. The report's authors found strong consensus among regional managers that older buildings are starting to show their age, including "expensive problems related to some of their major systems."

Ahluwalia acknowledged there are systemic funding problems associated with aging research centres, but there are no plans to close down any part of the Sault facility.

"Because we've been taking money from other parts of the program to fund the physical infrastructure, there are probably parts of our research that we've not advanced as much as we'd like to have done."

He fully supports the report's recommendations that as much as $42.6 million in capital investment is needed for NRCan facilities, instead of the $7.7 million allocated for 2005-2006, and $2.7 million for both 2006-2007 and 2007-2008.

"We do the best we can, and by and large we're not doing that badly," says Ahluwalia. "We're certainly not doing as well as those who manage the facilities would like, but we're not in absolutely dire straits by any stretch."

He agrees with the report's findings that some locations are "cannabilizing" their buildings. At GLFC, some components are taken from underutilized space to repair other parts of the building. However, it's not done at the expense of workplace safety.

"We have a smaller program at Great Lakes than when the building was constructed," he says, with the capacity to house twice the NRCan staff than the current 150 regular employees.

The centre hopes to attract new tenants, with plans underway to house clinical and bioprospecting testing labs associated with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, as well as place all the Sault-based federal Fisheries and Oceans departments in one place.

"That would strengthen our arguments for reinvestment in the building,."

Chronic underfunding for research institutions is nothing new for the science lead at Canada's largest public sector union.

Gary Corbett, vice-president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, says many researchers operate on shoestring budgets and laboratory positions at many institutes are slowly disappearing through attrition.

On his tours of the Sault facility, and in conversations with unionized workers there, he saw no signs of building decay and heard no complaints about health and safety issues. Most of the feedback dealt with the concerns about people retiring and their positions not being filled along with the government's long-term commitment to public research.

Nationally, he says, there is no new blood coming into the federal science ranks, and there is little central co-ordination as to what people's roles are.

"I personally would like to see the vision for Canada's S & T (science and technology), not only forestry, but all of the science-based departments. Who's looking forward?"

"There needs to be some co-ordination with what's happening with science-based departments and agencies in the country. And buildings falling down are just part of that." But there are other federal research institutes that are in much worse shape than GLFC, Corbett says.

www.nrcan.gc.ca

By IAN ROSS 

Northern Ontario Business