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SNOLAB workers are installing a dark matter detector in the underground facility in the summer of 2023.Patrick Dell/The Globe and Mail
Roseann O’Reilly Runte is the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Innovation Foundation. She is a writer Canadians Who Innovate: The Pioneers and Ideas That Change the Worldto be published May 7.
Natural resources have been key to Canada’s survival and growth. Our oceans, forests, agricultural lands, minerals and energy resources support us.
It’s no surprise that resource companies dominate the Canadian economy. Our people have always fished and farmed, harvested timber and extracted the wealth that lies beneath our feet.
Today this is no longer enough. Concerns about sustainability have emerged after decades of continuous resource extraction. Global conflicts, pandemics, economic downturns and environmental disasters have led to an unprecedented period of multi-crisis rolling.
To survive and grow, Canada must remember what our focus on resource extraction has marginalized: the idea that our people are our best asset. We will need to rely not only on existing intelligence and strength, but on the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, problem-solving abilities and the ability to be innovative.
Here are some examples of Canadian talent and innovation, and the directions we need to go.
When Dr Heather Jamieson discovered that arsenic was seeping out of the mines in our North, poisoning plants, wildlife and people 30 kilometers from the sites, she opened the door to develop strategies to reverse the damage done but to adopt mitigation processes in developments in the future.
When Dr Stephen Kokelj describes the effects of melting permafrost across our North, he reminds us of the fragility of our habitat. If we build on permafrost and forest fires accelerate its degradation, we will lose entire ecosystems.
Researchers at the Universities of Guelph, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan and others are working with industry leaders in agricultural technology. Together they have established 2,500 innovative companies, and achieved a return on investment of 200 to one in a few short years. Their research focuses on an increasingly important issue: With population growth in this changing world, we need to increase agricultural production while using less fertiliser, no pesticides, and be prepared to deal with drought and more extreme variations in temperature.
Meanwhile, Dr. Matthew Miller has created a nasal spray that delivers vaccines. Invented Dr. Leyla Soleymani antimicrobial coatings for surfaces, and VIDO, a laboratory in Saskatoon, offers a first-class example of work to prevent viruses from moving from one species to another. These are innovations that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrate our ingenuity and agility.
To be able to double our research, and continue to find ground-breaking innovation, we must focus more on our people. And we must not forget those who have lost their livelihoods or those, such as immigrants, who establish them. We must offer them access to education and training, great teachers, exceptional mentors and equipment and facilities.
See what happens when talent is given the chance to flourish:
Christina Gold had arrived in Canada at the age of five, unable to speak a word of English and finding school difficult. Today, when only 3 percent of the world’s top 500 companies were led by women, she has presided over seven major corporations.
Priti Wanjara had arrived in Montreal from Mumbai and struggled as she spoke neither English nor French. Today, a highly successful engineer, he tries to pay it forward, teaching pro bono students at Concordia and the Royal Military College of Canada.
We must also keep in mind that the sum of our talents is always greater than its parts.
When we face many complex global issues, we cannot afford to be isolated. We need to work together regionally and nationally. We must remember the greatness we can achieve in Canada and internationally when we work together.
Check out the Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo, now home to some of the best experts in quantum technologies and applications in the world.
Or Sudbury. Nickel is still a valuable resource, and the collaboration that is deep down in the Vale pool with our Nobel physics laureate Art McDonald and his colleagues offers not only employment today but a place for Canada in the history of the tomorrow’s world
People are our greatest resource. Recognizing and supporting their potential offers hope for a better future.
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