Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to appear this afternoon before the committee.
My name is Dale Patterson. I'm the interim CEO and vice-president of external relations at Genome Canada. I am pleased to be joined by my colleagues, Dr. Cindy Bell, who is the executive vice-president of corporate development; and Guy D'Aloisio, who is the vice-president of finance.
As many of you may be aware, Genome Canada is a not-for-profit corporation that acts as the primary funding and information resource relating to genomics and proteomics research in Canada in a unique model of collaborative federal-provincial partnering. Genome Canada has adopted a bold yet systematic approach that focuses its activities exclusively in the areas of genomics and proteomics research, with an emphasis on the delivery of tangible and measurable results. This approach has positioned Canada among the world leaders in the fields of human health, agriculture, environment, forestry, fisheries, and new technology development. Furthermore, Genome Canada continues to play a leadership role on the ethical, environmental, economic, legal, and social issues—referred to as GE3LS, associated with genomics and proteomics research.
One of Genome Canada's strengths is its network of regional centres across the country. Six have been established since 2000. The centres are independently incorporated and act as focal points for local expertise and interests by facilitating access to top-flight science and technology innovation centres and by assisting researchers with project development, management, and fundraising. Centres and scientists also work together to secure co-funding for each project at the level of 50% or more of the total project cost.
While we are proud of our track record, we are also looking forward to our future, and to this end, the recent federal budget provided $75 million in additional funding to Genome Canada, for which we are thankful.
At our March 2010 board meeting, the board of directors of Genome Canada moved quickly to ensure that these new funds would be invested in areas of key importance to Canadians.
First, we announced that $15 million would be directed toward an open competition in support of the science and technology innovation centres. This is in addition to $9 million in existing funding, for a total of $24 million.
Second, up to $60 million will be directed toward a combined open and targeted large-scale project competition that will emphasize a high potential for economic return. At least $30 million will be targeted to research in the areas of forestry and the environment, and up to $30 million in support of strategically important research in Genome Canada's other sectors: agriculture, fisheries, and human health.
We want to get these funds directly into the hands of the researchers as quickly as possible while ensuring that we are funding the best of the best. As a result, we are moving fast to put competition guidelines in place in the coming weeks.
Excellence is the only standard that Genome Canada will accept or fund. That's why every project must first be peer-reviewed by an international panel of experts, ensuring that Canada's best research is the world best research, with the potential to produce meaningful applications through knowledge transfer and technology development.
Genome Canada's formula for success has not gone unnoticed. When Spain created its genome foundation, it modelled itself on Genome Canada.
Genome Canada has also been very cognizant of its accountability requirements with respect to the funding it receives from the federal government and has had a number of third-party reviews of its operations over the past five years. These have included a compliance audit by Industry Canada, a formal third-party summative evaluation and performance audit, the results of which are posted on the Genome Canada website. Through the regional genome centres, recipient audits are also undertaken on funded projects to ensure compliance with the formal terms and conditions of funding. These are in addition to complying with the detailed terms and conditions of the formal funding agreement with Industry Canada.
Since its inception, Genome Canada has been in the news: mapping variations in the human genome, identifying risk factors for type 2 diabetes, sequencing the SARS virus, making a major breakthrough in breast cancer treatment, creating new tools to diagnose organ transplant rejection, designing new biotechnologies that minimize the environmental impact of oil sands production, creating hardier varieties of wheat in response to climate change, and sequencing the salmon genome to improve breeding selection for commercially important traits. This has happened thanks to the support of parliamentarians including many of you around the table. A number of our success stories are included in the package we've issued.
Finally, a word on a number of additional changes at Genome Canada.
Genome Canada is governed by a board of directors who serve renewable two-year terms. A key priority for us is board renewal and recruitment, which is currently under way. In addition, following the departure of our founding president and CEO, we have retained an executive search firm to assist us in undertaking a search for his successor.
We look forward to answering any questions you may have in relation to Genome Canada. Thank you for your time and for this opportunity.