Evidence of meeting #54 for Finance in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was research.
Lead, Centre for Image-Guided Innovation and Therapeutic Intervention
No, this will be specifically the first time.
The fact of the matter is that we have acquired CFI peer-reviewed funding, but that just simply isn't enough. We are very close to it, and it just would be nice to put a plus and put us on the top and get us going there.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
So perhaps the request should be done through additional funding for CFI so it is funnelled through you perhaps.
I am looking for direction, so if you can be more specific it would help.
Lead, Centre for Image-Guided Innovation and Therapeutic Intervention
We are looking at other agencies because this one straddles both as research and knowledge creation and knowledge translation aspects. We are looking into, for instance, economic development agencies--IRAP and all those potential agencies.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Thank you.
Speaking of IRAP, Ms. Diamond, I see in your brief that you talk about IRAP. Is your institution eligible to receive IRAP money?
President, Ontario College of Art and Design
No, it's not. We have an IRAP officer whom we work with and my intervention was very much on the policy side.
I am a big fan of IRAP. I think it is an amazing kind of program that should be replicated across different sectors. It is just that they really do not treat design and design innovation.
If you look around the room, everything in this room is designed. If we try to assess how much of the intellectual property in this room is Canadian owned and patented, other than maybe my suit and your BlackBerry, and maybe your suit, depending on--
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
How would that help out your institution if you were receiving it?
President, Ontario College of Art and Design
Philosophically, I believe the correct policies mean that the people who graduate from my institution have jobs in Canada in the future. Many of our partners are in the design industry. It would create a climate of intellectual property capacity in this country that would be significant.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
So you're asking for IRAP to include design in its--
President, Ontario College of Art and Design
And every design company being able to partner with design firms, with much more investment in design research. There is no space for design research in Canada.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
When you talk about design, do you also include fashion design?
President, Ontario College of Art and Design
It's every aspect of the design industries and capacities, from innovation design in terms of business to design rethinking--
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
How do you coordinate all that? How big is your facility?
President, Ontario College of Art and Design
OCAD is the largest art and design institution in Canada, with the largest program. We have partners across all of the universities and across the country. We act as a national focus. I chair a network of such institutions and we are very capable of facilitating those relationships across the country.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Okay. Great.
I just want to ask Mr. Frew a quick question.
Being a city boy, I do not know how to raise hogs or anything like that, but I know how to eat them. My understanding is that there is a crisis in your industry because of the supply and demand. The demand is not there and so there is an oversupply. I am not sure if it is temporary. My understanding is that it is not temporary. Internationally, there is competition coming from everywhere. It is not a temporary problem but more of a long-term problem. I do not know if it is a strategy problem.
I would just like to hear your comments on that.
As an Individual
Current reports are that pork prices around the world are far higher, using today's pricing, than in North America. We have very much been hurt in North America from H1N1.
On the value of the industry as a whole, though, in Ontario I know that 80% of the pork produced within the province of Ontario...equivalent value is consumed. My pig may not be eaten at a grocery; you may not buy my pig. You may get one from the States, but my pig in Burlington could be getting shipped to Japan.
There have been a lot of factors that have created worldwide oversupply. A lot of those factors are starting to improve. I don't have documentation, but about three weeks ago the price for a pig in Mexico was two-and-a-half times what it was in Canada.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
So you feel it is a temporary problem and not a long-term one.
Conservative
Conservative
Bob Dechert Conservative Mississauga—Erindale, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your comments. I had hoped to start with Councillor Carroll, but I think she just stepped out for a moment, so perhaps I'll start with the Ontario universities and also the Ontario College of Art and Design.
It's a question I've asked of several other colleges and universities we've been hearing from across the country. There's a general “ask” for greater funding of research. I understand the need for that, and I think it's generally a good thing that we encourage research in our universities and colleges.
Recently I was in China with a parliamentary committee. I visited a number of universities there. I learned that the Chinese government concentrates on certain areas of research to develop their economy. Of course, in their kind of economy and government structure, it's a lot easier to do that than it would be in ours. But what I generally hear from universities is let's increase funding, and we'll figure out where to put the money and what to research. I often hear from the colleges that it should be more targeted.
Should we have a national strategy to target our research dollar? Given that we're a relatively small country, we have relatively limited resources. Should we target our resources in certain areas like design, or should we just let researchers go off in whatever direction they think best?
Interim President, Council of Ontario Universities
An awful lot of targeting has gone on within the national framework of research funding over the last two decades. That's why many of us are now saying let's get the core business of research right in the fundamentals.
Conservative
Bob Dechert Conservative Mississauga—Erindale, ON
So the previous targeting was misdirected, or just insufficient?
Interim President, Council of Ontario Universities
I wouldn't say it was misdirected. There's just never enough to go around. Our greatest worry is that the pipeline will either slow down or empty at a time that we need to move to the next level from fundamental research.
I don't think you'd find anyone disagreeing that both are needed. But the more things become targeted, the less there is at the beginning of the pipeline. You can also make errors in deciding which technologies should leapfrog ahead of others. For example, there is a gap in design. Who would have thought it 10 or 20 years ago? We probably should have known that, but we're never going to get it exactly right.
Most of us are saying that you should get the core in place so that in the long term we have a funnel that is able to move resources into the more targeted and applied research.
President, Ontario College of Art and Design
I sit on SACUR, which is the AUCC research council. I'll talk the party line for a minute. I agree that it's critical to fund basic research. Look at the Perimeter Institute and Canada winning a Nobel. That's important.
However, I also think that there should be specialization in the university sector. I'm unpopular for that. I think that where there's excellence, it should be supported, and where there isn't, it should culled. I'll just say that. But that's not your problem. That's a provincial one.
On the research side, it's critical to locate the gaps in Canada. Canada needs a digital media strategy. Our colleagues at the ministerial level are developing one. That means focusing research, not only the physical resources and the infrastructure, but also the research dollars. There was some good practice in supporting business innovation research at the federal level in this country, and we need to look at design research.
You need a combined effect. Many other countries like India and China are putting money into digital research and design research. They'll benefit from that, and we need to do it too.
