What’s next for Canada’s new minister of innovation, science, and industry?
On January 12, Navdeep Bains announced that he was stepping down from his role as Canada’s minister of innovation, science, and industry. The resulting cabinet shuffle led to François-Philippe Champagne taking up the mantle, following his two year tenure as Canada’s minister of foreign affairs. As the country’s new Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, Champagne is undertaking a daunting and urgent agenda of national priorities.
In a mandate letter to the newly appointed minister, Prime Minister Trudeau outlined his expectations for the department. The letter emphasized four national priorities presented in last fall’s Speech from the Throne, and emphasized the protection of public health, ensuring a strong economic recovery, promoting a cleaner environment, and standing up for fairness and equality. In addition, the mandate letter also stressed the importance of working with Indigenous Peoples to “advance meaningful reconciliation” and ensure the use of gender-based analysis in all policy decisions.
Beyond these broad priorities, the letter outlined nearly 20 other key responsibilities and action items for the new minister of innovation, science, and industry. With COVID-19 at the top of the government’s priority list, most of the responsibilities involve collaboration, dialogue, and meaningful partnerships with other ministries and departments to tackle the current daunting challenge of COVID-19 testing, tracing, and vaccine distribution.
COVID-19 Response
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is set to play a critical role in the country’s economic recovery plan. The department has been granted nearly $155 billion in funding to implement appropriate COVID-19 response measures. This includes ensuring accountability and building trust in the COVID-19 Exposure Notification App, investing in Canada’s research ecosystem for a trusted distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines, supporting Canadian PPE manufacturers, and working with industry to maintain the integrity of supply chains. In an interview following his appointment, Minister Champagne expressed his interest in creating a group of trade ministers from G7 countries to re-evaluate and restructure global supply chains. This could be promising news for Canada’s manufacturing industry.
The Economy
While COVID-19 continues to dominate daily headlines, Minister Champagne has expressed the need to balance health crisis management with Canada’s economic recovery. He stated that the creation of jobs and support of Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs are at the centre of his department’s agenda. A reported 63,000 jobs were lost in the month of December alone, raising the unemployment rate to a concerning 8.6 per cent. Leaders in the private sector are asking government officials to address unemployment by evaluating the shifting talent demands in the labour market and implementing necessary systems that redeploy Canadian talent across new sectors.
With innovation, science, and industry all being key factors in Canada’s COVID-19 economic recovery plan, Minister Champagne can expect to hear from businesses, entrepreneurs, and lobbyists all eager to influence policy-making. His predecessor, Navdeep Bains, was the most lobbied minister in 2020, and this trend is likely to continue into the first half of 2021. Minister Champagne is well positioned to leverage his past experiences, as well as vast network in and outside of government—as a former minister of international trade, minister of infrastructure, and minister of foreign affairs—to foster cross-sectoral collaboration.
Innovation
Beyond the pandemic, Minister Champagne will be responsible for a variety of issues, especially the long anticipated decision on 5G network technology, which will inevitably impact Canada’s relationship with China. He has also been mandated to support the implementation of the Universal Broadband Fund, the purpose of which is to support bringing reliable internet access to Indigenous Peoples and Canadians living in rural and remote communities. Finally, he is tasked with improving Canada’s intellectual property (IP) capacity, and enabling full participation within an inclusive digital economy.
One of the most common criticisms of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada from Canadian businesses is the lack of commitment to scaling up pilot programs. This move has been frequently condemned for preventing growth for Canadian entrepreneurs and SMEs, and hindering Canada’s competitiveness on a global scale. Benjamin Bergen, Executive Director of the Council of Canadian Innovators, asserted that Minister Champagne will need to focus on “how [to] create [the] structures that allow companies to grow, to become global giants, and not have to kind of sell out at a certain stage because they basically hit a wall.” Like Bergen, many Canadian start-ups and entrepreneurs will be seeking greater commitment from Minister Champagne on creating opportunities that facilitate and foster long-term Canadian growth and global competitiveness.
With a tough but necessary mandate ahead, Minister Champagne will be closely watched by Canadians as he and his Ministry set out to fulfill an integral role in leading Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery.