Province wants to spur tech development

June 25th, 2004
By Kitchener-Waterloo Record

The Ontario government has launched a new “commercialization” strategy that will help the high-tech and bio-tech industries in Waterloo Region and Guelph turn research into products, Economic Development and Trade Minister Joe Cordiano says.

“Waterloo is a very important region in terms of the technology corridor that we want to talk about in Ontario,” Cordiano said in an interview yesterday.

“Waterloo Region, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge is an integral part of what we’re trying to build here.”

Cordiano fleshed out the strategy to commercialize science and technology research earlier yesterday in a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto.

The strategy includes $63 million in spending over four years—money that was first announced in the Liberal government’s first budget last month.

“Commercialization of research—moving products from the lab to the marketplace—is a key component of a modern economy,’’ Cordiano said in his speech.

The provincial spending includes $27 million through the Ontario Research Commercialization Program, which aims to help universities, colleges and hospitals identify discoveries with commercial potential.

It also includes $36 million through the Ontario Commercialization Investment Funds program, which will help public institutions set up pools of seed capital to commercialize technology.

The province will also create a new commercialization advisory committee to advise Cordiano on the best technologies, products and services in the province to advance. Cordiano declined to say who would sit on the committee, but said he wanted representation from tech communities right across Ontario.

He also said he is asking the Ontario Task Force on Competitiveness, Prosperity and Economic Progress to help advise him on the strategy.

The task force is headed by Roger Martin, dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and a native of Wallenstein, northwest of Waterloo.

WATERLOO REGION ‘BUZZ’

In his speech, Cordiano mentioned Waterloo Region and Guelph as area’s that are creating a “buzz” with their reputations for technology companies and research. He also made reference to the federal election.

Cordiano criticized Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s plan to cut business subsidies and focus on tax cuts if his party forms the next federal government.

“Stephen Harper and the Conservative party don’t understand the importance of investing in research and innovation. He backs away from partnerships—and does so at the peril of the Ontario economy,’’ Cordiano said.

Cordiano already has been critical of Harper’s plan to cut business subsidies, particularly because using both federal and provincial government funds have been a key way that Ontario has encouraged automakers to build and
expand plants in the province.

The government has to support research and commercialization to compete against other jurisdictions, Cordiano said.

“It’s never been more obvious that Mr. Harper does not understand the things that drive Ontario’s economy. He would put reckless tax cuts over investments in our economy.”