Industry committee  This goes to the question of the complexities of the design of consultation processes in general. I've been involved over recent years in consultation processes in a whole variety of forms. With some of them, you arrive and are given a fairly narrow set of options to consider at the outset.

Industry committee  That's a complex question. I think there has been a quite extraordinary move in recent decades in the direction of conceptualizing science and technological development solely in terms of economic growth, national competitiveness. I think the innovation strategy has been almost over-burdened with that kind of rhetoric.

Industry committee  Yes, youth engagement in general is very important, certainly around science and technology issues. One of the things I would say about youth engagement in particular is that one of the ways we need to engage youth at an early stage in science and technology is not only in the promotion of science and technology in order to stimulate them to possibly take up careers in those fields--that's very important--but we also need to start engaging them as citizens whose voices matter on important questions like science and technology.

Industry committee  Yes, I think that's a very valuable question. One of the assumptions that often comes when people hear people like me talk about increased citizen engagement in science and technology is a kind of fear that that's going to mean a kind of shutting down of scientific development, a sort of irrational constraint on technological development, because citizens are just a bit too skittish or something like that.

Industry committee  Yes, it wouldn't be difficult for me to gather some of that information for you. As I mentioned in one of my previous responses, democratic engagement is tough enough as it is, but when it comes to complex issues like science and technology, there are additional challenges. There are good ways to do democratic engagement and less effective ways.

Industry committee  I think it's that very complexity that you highlight that recommends an institution that's specifically dedicated to developing best practices in citizen engagement and consultation around science and technology issues. That is kind of the missing third pillar in the emerging structure for scientific and technological advice in Canada in the transformation that was discussed earlier.

Industry committee  I think it would be. The model I have in mind—and this is just derived from my own experience as an advisory council member of the Law Commission of Canada—is something like that kind of commission, that has that kind of relationship to government and those kinds of resources.

Industry committee  Thank you very much for that question. Yes, I think there has been increased attention across the Government of Canada, not only in this policy area, but to the importance of citizen engagement in general. I think this reflects a sense that citizens do have something to say even on complex issues, that they live in a world where these technologies and scientific developments are going to be rolled out.

Industry committee  Other countries, yes. I think the voice of citizens is one that has to be at the table when these priorities are being formed, along with these other very important sources of information. As I outlined in my brief, multiple bodies exist throughout Europe to specifically engage the public on questions of science and technological development.

Industry committee  Thank you very much, and thank you for inviting me to speak with you today. As those of you who've seen my brief will know, the recommendations I make in it are very few and modest. They centre around the recommendation that the committee consider making it a priority to establish institutional mechanisms for enhanced citizen engagement on issues of science and technology policy and development in Canada.