Earning a front row seat for the North.Read the following list of technology clusters supported by the National Research council of Canada The National Research Council Canada (NRC) is Canada's leading organization for scientific research and development. History NRC was established in 1916, mainly to advise the government. Then, in the early 1930s, laboratories were built in Ottawa. . Then explain why Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River and Lake Nipissing. Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it is in trouble. * Ocean Technologies in St. John's; * Life sciences in Halifax; * Information technologies in Fredericton, Moncton, Saint John Saint John, city, Canada Saint John, city (1991 pop. 74,969), S N.B., Canada, at the mouth of the St. John River on the Bay of Fundy. A major year-round port, it has an excellent harbor, large dry docks, and terminal facilities and maintains extensive and Sydney; * Aerospace, biopharmaceuticals, * Industrial materials in Montreal; * Aluminium technologies in Saguenay; * IT, life sciences, photonics in Ottawa; * Medical devices--Winnipeg; * Agricultural biotech and nutraceuticals in Saskatoon Saskatoon (săskət  n`), city (1991 pop. 186,058), S central Sask., Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. ; * Nanotechnologies in Edmonton; * Fuel cells in Vancouver; * Astronomy in Victoria and Pen ticton. NRC's research institutes have become central hubs for dynamic technology clusters in Montreal, Ottawa and Saskatoon. These cities have seen tremendous growth, and the NRC NRC abbr. 1. National Research Council 2. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Noun 1. NRC - an independent federal agency created in 1974 to license and regulate nuclear power plants has helped make it happen. The NRC Web site describes how it works: "Fuelled by innovation, the cluster becomes a hotbed hotbed, low, glass-covered frame structure for starting tender plants. It differs from a cold frame only in that the soil is heated—either artificially as by underground electric wiring or steampipes, or naturally with partially fermented stable manure, which of investment and technology transfer. Small companies spin off from the original R & D laboratory. Startups find the technical and financial support they need to establish a customer base for innovative products and services. The success of one company attracts another, and another, eventually building a critical mass of skilled people, expertise, capital and entrepreneurial drive. Such an environment helps create local jobs and fuels economic growth." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] So what is wrong with the list? There is no forestry cluster. There is no mining cluster. There is no Northern Ontario cluster. And it is no accident. The National Research Council is in charge of promoting Canada's high-tech clusters. In 2000 it committed $110 million to the Atlantic region alone. In 2001 it received an additional $110 million to expand its cluster activities across Canada Across Canada was an afternoon program that formerly aired on The Weather Network. The segment ran from early 1999 until mid 2002. The show ran from 3:00PM ET until 7:00 PM ET. . But according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Don Di Salle, a Sudbury boy who happens to be the director general of corporate services Activities that combine or consolidate certain enterprise-wide needed support services, provided based on specialized knowledge, best practices, and technology to serve internal (and sometimes external) customers and business partners. for the NRC, Northern Ontario is not in the game. Mining and forestry are the responsibility of Natural Resources Canada Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is a department of the government of Canada responsible for natural resources, energy, minerals and metals, forests, earth sciences, mapping and remote sensing. , not the NRC. The problem may get worse before it gets better. For the last 10 years Arthur Carty was president of the NRC. Now, as Paul Martin's national science advisor, Carty has become the most powerful figure in Canadian science. Will Carty continue to ignore Northern Ontario industries, or will he recommend treating the forestry and mining clusters like other industries? Joe Comuzzi could tip the balance as Secretary of State for federal economic development initiatives in Northern Ontario. It won't be easy for him. His agency, FedNor, is the weakest of the four federal regional development agencies. FedNor will be competing with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is the Canadian federal government department responsible for helping to build economic capacity in the Atlantic Provinces by working with the people of the region – in their communities, through their institutions and with their local under Joe McGuire, the Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec under the new Minister of Industry, Lucienne Robillard, and Western Economic Diversification under Rey Pagtakhan. As if that wasn't enough, the key industries in this region are under the Minister of Natural Resources, John Elford. Elford, who was Minister of Fisheries in Newfoundland, will work well with Federal Fisheries Minister Geoff Reagan. But is he likely to promote the mining cluster in Sudbury instead of in his home province? Comuzzi clearly has a battle ahead of him. He also has very little time. Martin will call an election soon, and after the election the cabinet will be reshuffled and ministries will be restructured. Comuzzi's best bet is to play the cluster game to the hilt. He can win support for a mining technology cluster in Sudbury and a technology cluster built around the forestry faculty at Lakehead. The key is to tell FedNor to put all of its energy into getting NRC research centres in both of the North's major cities. The rest of us can help. Instead of asking him to do a million small things in the time he has, let's encourage him to do a few big things that will make a difference. Then, when the ministries are reorganized, he will have earned himself, and us, a front row seat. Dr. David Robinson, PhD, is an associate professor at Laurentian University. (drobinson@laurentian.ca). |
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