Carty Named to Canada’s New High-Level Science Post

The day he was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister last December, Paul Martin announced the creation of a national science adviser post. Stepping into the new shoes on 1 April is Arthur Carty, a synthetic chemist and president of the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada.

News of the resurrection of a high-level science post is being heartily welcomed by Canada’s science community. Three decades ago, the country had a science adviser to the cabinet—not, as now, to the prime minister. Martin also named Joe Fontana, a long-time member of parliament, to be parliamentary secretary for science and small business, another new position.

The moves are seen as evidence of the government’s commitment to science and technology and as a means to improve both the decisionmaking process in S&T and the communication between the science community and policymakers—and, by extension, the public. A couple of years ago, when Martin was finance minister, says Béla Joós, president of the Canadian Association of Physicists, “he was the most sympathetic person in government to arguments that the prosperity of modern nations depends on high technology. Therefore, having him now as prime minister is the best thing that could happen to the science community.”

Having a national science adviser “is an excellent development,” adds Pekka Sinervo, a high-energy physicist and dean of arts and sciences at the University of Toronto. “[Carty] is a very well-respected administrator, an excellent bench scientist in his own right, and understands the Ottawa scene very well. People are cautiously optimistic. It will depend on how Carty is on influencing and steering policy and his relationship with the prime minister. These are unknowns.”

A UK native, Carty went to Canada in the 1960s. He served on the faculty of the University of Waterloo for 25 years, including a stint as dean of research, before becoming NRC chief a decade ago. He continues to maintain an active research group.

In his new role, Carty will counsel the prime minister on S&T issues. A key thrust of the government is to commercialize research advances—and to climb from 14th to 5th place worldwide in per capita R&D spending by the end of the decade (see Physics Today, May 2003, page 25 ). Canada has increased R&D funding significantly over the past few years, says Carty. “That has to be continued and, if possible, enhanced.” Reaping the benefits of investments in fundamental research, he adds, “is not going to happen automatically if you ignore the innovation end.”

Setting funding priorities for science, defining and securing Canada’s role in the international science arena, and establishing mechanisms for dealing with big science are also on Carty’s agenda. “We haven’t got a transparent process for evaluating big science in the context of comparing both among large projects and with big versus small,” says Carty. More generally, he adds, “I will always be taking the pulse of the science community in universities and colleges, industry, and the government R&D community to find out their needs and aspirations.”