Research Council’s Makeover Leaves Canadian Industry Setting Agenda

"The National Research Council, which gave the country canola and the atomic clock, will now be taking its scientific cues from Canadian industry as part of a makeover of the country’s flagship research labs."



"The overhaul, quietly begun two years ago and formally unveiled Tuesday, means the 97-year-old NRC will focus on a clutch of large-scale, business-driven research projects at the expense of the basic science that was once at its core. The Conservative government says it wants to leverage the NRC’s world-class resources – everything from wind tunnels and ice tanks to high-powered microscopes – to help reverse the country’s chronically lagging innovation performance."

Barrie Mckenna and Ivan Semeniuk report for the Toronto Globe and Mail May 7, 2013.
 

Source: Toronto Globe & Mail, 05/09/2013