Never let the facts get in the way of a good story they say.  In politics, perhaps in everyday life too, it is too often the case.

Such is the impetus behind recent claims by the Opposition that the current Conservative Government does not support research and development.

The facts clearly dispute the claim. 

The current Conservative government has increased funding for research and development and, in fact, Canada just surpassed the $10 billion per year mark in funding for science.

This year alone, we put $5.1 billion into our science and tech community, per capita, more than twice what the United States government has earmarked for science and technology in its own stimulus package.

Locally we have seen the benefit through contributions like the $200,000 provided to support the Okanagan Research and Innovation Centre (ORIC) which will accelerate the research and development of new technologies so we can bring them to market and provide significant economic benefits to the Okanagan, British Columbia and Canada.

The federal government has also funded UBC-O.  Last year $350,000 in federal funding was invested to help UBC-O acquire a state-of-the-art plasma mass spectrometer, equipment that will help expand campus chemistry research and analytical capabilities.

The truth is that R&D funding is not a partisan issue.  Canadian taxpayers and their elected representatives support R&D funding because it makes sense. 

R&D has the potential to improve the quality of lives for Canadian through developments like vaccines for diseases like polio or innovative technologies like the Blackberry.

Furthermore commercialized R&D, the research and development which has applications in industry, has the ability to garner economic benefits by diversifying our economy and creating jobs, something that is especially important during the current global economic slowdown. 

In fact, countries that invest heavily in research and development during times of economic difficulty emerge from recession stronger and more quickly than those that do not.

That’s why our government is committed to basic, discovery oriented research as well as applied research and commercialization. 

Basic research, science that is conducted primarily within our universities and colleges is well-supported in Canada. 

We invest more in higher-education research and development than any other country in the G7 as a proportion of GDP.  We are second only to Sweden in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and well ahead of the United States (which ranks 17th).

Where Canada lags behind other countries, however, is in the area of commercialization – getting innovations from the lab to the marketplace where Canadians and people around the world can benefit from our newest discoveries.

That’s why two years ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper launched our government’s Science and Technology Strategy, Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage. 

To this end, over the last three years, we’ve provided $1.3 billion to the Canada Foundation for Innovation to develop, recruit and retain the best researchers in the world. 

We created the Vanier Scholarships, launched the Industrial R&D Internship program, and increased funding for the Canada Graduate Scholarships to encourage and develop more research talent.

In the past three budgets, we’ve increased funding for Canada’s three granting councils by $205 million per year, providing more opportunities for scientists and researchers across the country to do more research.

We have funded large scale science projects like 1CANARIE and we’ve also opened Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research to commercialize Canada’s leading-edge technologies, products and services.

This year we’re adding $200 million to the NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program to help small and medium-sized businesses innovate and conduct on-site research.  We have also embarked on an unprecedented $2 billion program to repair, refurbish and expand research facilities at colleges and universities across Canada.

So regardless of the Opposition’s claims our government is seriously committed to Canada’s future and success in research and development and we continue to respect the fine reputation we have in this country for some of the world’s greatest innovations which have changed the lives of people around the world.