research funding in Canada

Lots of good stuff over at Confessions of a Science Librarian.
Of particular interest to me is the recent posting Science funding in Canada.

Points to an informative article in the Toronto Star - T.O.'s research crossroads - November 9, 2006 ("T.O." is Canadian slang for Toronto, but the article addresses issues of general concern all across Canada)

Toronto risks falling behind in the global race to be a centre of excellence for research and development, according to a report to be released today.

...

The report suggests that Ottawa is doing much less to support research and development than other national governments, including the United States.

The 33-page report, entitled At a Crossroads [PDF], looks at nine leading centres of research in the United States (Boston, San Diego, Austin, Albany, and Raleigh) and overseas (Singapore, Bangalore, Shanghai and Stockholm) and suggests the common thread for all of them is major support from their national governments.

Meanwhile, says the report, under the Conservative government in Ottawa, key research agencies "have either reached the end of their terms or have received no word as to their future funding."In this respect, the report names the Canada Foundation for Innovation (which funds research infrastructure), Genome Canada (which supports genetic research), CANARIE (a national high-bandwidth network for research), and the Canada Research Chairs program (under which research talent is recruited to Canada).

...

What is causing concern in the R&D community — not only in Toronto but across the country — is the delay in publication of a science and technology "strategy paper" by the federal government. The paper, promised in last spring's federal budget, had been expected by the end of September. No such paper has emerged from the federal bureaucracy, however, and now there are indications that the R&D strategy will be condensed to a few paragraphs in federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's economic statement later this month.

Questions on the missing strategy paper to the office of Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, who is responsible for science and technology, were met with a boilerplate response.

Also in limbo are two major research centres in the Toronto region that were supported by the previous federal government under the Liberals: the National Institute for Convergent Technologies in Markham and the National Centre for Biomedical Innovation in downtown Toronto.

(possibly career-limiting) emphasis mine

The article also has a chart (PDF) comparing our research spending and tech salaries against other countries.