Funding freeze leaves R & D sector in limbo.

University researchers who qualified for government assistance may be left in the lurch until later this year, following the abrupt cancellation of an Ontario government research infrastructure support program.

The cancellation of the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT) by the McGuinty Liberals cut off a $300-million cash infusion to colleges, universities and hospitals.

Much of the OIT's dollars, used to leverage federal money, was earmarked for information technologies, manufacturing systems, biological sciences, medicine, environmental engineering, research centres and other leading-edge areas of Ontario's knowledge-based economy.

In many cases, the money was used to recruit talented researchers to Ontario campuses from around the world.

Queen's Park says it plans to create a new research fund this fall, but details remain sketchy.

"It's going to integrate the operating, the capital and overhead funding," says Kari Cuss, a spokeswoman for Ontario Economic Development Minister Joseph Cordiano, who met with the Council of Ontario Universities July 28 to address their concerns.

"It's going to be one-stop shopping for researchers," he said.

The provincial auditor had raised concerns about the transparency and accountability of OIT's handling of funds. "We're going to address those concerns in this new fund," said Cuss.

The Ontario Innovation Trust was created in 1999 to provide matching grants--in combination with the federal government's Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)--for university, college and hospital research facilities and equipment.

Each level of government was to provide 40 per cent of the costs of the new research infrastructure, with either the private sector, foundations or university contributions making up the remaining 20 per cent.

Over the years, about 1,244 projects have been funded, with Ontario contributing $895.3 million for research infrastructure projects valued at $2.5 billion.

Cuss says she cannot provide details on the new formula except to add that the new fund is part of the Liberals' $1 billion research commitment over the next four years, which will include research related to cancer, fuel cell technology, alternative energy, medical devices and commercialization.

The Ministry will consult with stakeholders and Ottawa to determine the format of the fund before an announcement takes place sometime this fall.

Existing contracts under the old program will continue to be honoured, Cuss says.

Some academic leaders, including the Council of Ontario Universities, called the program's cancellation a very dire threat to the knowledge-based economic future of Ontario, if the money were to stop.

Many in Ontario's research and biotechnology community feared it could mean an exodus of talented researchers.

"Part of the start-up expectations for good, young faculty coming in was being able to access innovation grants through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation that would be matched by the province," says Lakehead University president Fred Gilbert.

The cancellation of OIT funding forced the Thunder Bay university to scramble to find matching dollars in its budget for two small science grants worth slightly less than $100,000 combined.

"At the end of the day, if we are going to meet the federal government's expectations in terms of international competitiveness, the R & D sector has to continue to get that infusion of research dollars," says Gilbert.

He suspects the Liberal government was not enamoured with the Innovation Trust being at arm's length from the government, and likely wanted something directly under the minister's control.

The program's cancellation causes no critical impairment since Lakehead has made significant strides in its research capacity. Its Paleo DNA laboratory has moved to the stage of almost being self-sustaining. It recently received accreditation by the Standards Council of Canada as the country's first university lab available for forensic DNA testing.

By IAN ROSS

Northern Ontario Business