Hello. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be here with you today. Thank you, Luc, for inviting me to join you at the Canada Science and Technology Museum.
I would like to recognize the work of Senator Kelvin Ogilvie whose "Gene Machine" is featured at the museum. By introducing the first automated process for manufacturing DNA, he opened the door to a new era in biotechnology through his groundbreaking work, enabling genetic engineering to take off. So it is fitting that a genomics-related announcement brings us together here today.
It is always a pleasure to be in the company of men and women who are looking to tomorrow. Men and women who are helping to create tomorrow.
Certainly, history will record our era's achievements in genomics as game changing.
As we deepen our understanding of the genetic code—the language of life—our relationship with the world around us is fundamentally changing. And as the science of genomics advances, so does its power to deliver economic and social benefits to Canadians.
In health care, cancer tumours are being sequenced to identify more effective treatments. Drug treatments are now being tailored to a person's specific genetic makeup to improve their effectiveness and prevent adverse reactions. In fact, that potential for personalization is the very objective of the Large-Scale Applied Research Project Competition in Genomics and Personalized Health our government announced last March.
Genomics advances are renewing Canada's traditional industries such as agriculture, energy, forestry, mining, fisheries and aquaculture.
All around, genomics is equipping Canadian businesses with cutting-edge science and technologies, which are not only helping address the challenges we face but also driving economic growth and creating high-quality jobs.
In fact, genomics is a foundational piece of Canada's growing bioeconomy, which is expected to account for about $38 billion of our GDP by 2017. It is an economy that is redefining traditional industries like construction and transport through such advances as cleaner-burning bio fuels for jets and composite bio materials used in home construction.
And so I am delighted to be here today to announce the launch of Genome Canada's new program that will help drive our bioeconomy into the future and play a critical role in moving genomics-based solutions from laboratories to the marketplace.
It is called the Genomic Applications Partnership Program, or GAPP for short, and it will fund R&D partnership projects between researchers and end-users of genomics. Those users—whether from industry, like pharmaceuticals, forestry, agriculture and biotechnology, or other public entities, like not-for-profit organizations, charities and provinces—help define project needs, making this research responsive and effective.
This approach allows project leaders to address real problems, capture new opportunities, and generate new knowledge that will benefit Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Our government is proud to invest $30 million to support this new program. We are also pleased that Genome Canada will leverage, through its regional genome centres, an additional $60 million in co-funding from partners, including industry.
Complementing the promising work to be generated by GAPP are five S&T innovation centres supported by Genome Canada. These facilities house state-of-the-art equipment that has helped the research community bring us exciting new breakthroughs, such as the one recently achieved in Quebec by Canadian scientist Jacques Simard.
Using the technologies at the McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre, Dr. Simard played a central role in uncovering new gene markers for breast cancer. Ultimately, this discovery will help physicians better target cancer-screening tests and allow at-risk women to make informed choices regarding prevention and treatment.
As part of the project, more than 100,000 genetic samples were analyzed at the Centre, which has been internationally recognized for its genomics capabilities. Without that Centre—without its technology, personnel and capabilities—Canada's participation in this worldwide project would not have been possible. And Dr. Simard's discovery might never have occurred.
To assist in making many more important discoveries in the future, our government is pleased to renew the mandates of these S&T Innovation Centres across Canada with $29 million in funding.
And to further support Canadian leadership in international consortia, we are providing $5 million to the Structural Genomics Consortium and International Barcode of Life project.
The Structural Genomics Consortium will see Genome Canada–funded researchers leading an international effort to determine the structure of proteins with a view to developing new medicines.
And the International Barcode of Life project involves scientists from 25 countries working with Canadian researchers to construct a DNA barcode library. This allows for quick identification of different species of plants and animals important to health, food safety, agriculture, trade and the environment.
Ladies and gentlemen, I should note that in addition to the investments I have just announced, Economic Action Plan 2013 committed $165 million in new multi-year funding for Genome Canada. That money will be devoted to supporting the organization's new strategic plan. It is a plan that focuses on rapidly building or improving ways of translating discoveries into new applications that lead to economic and social benefits.
Since we launched the science and technology strategy in 2007, our government has made substantial investments to strengthen Canada's science capacity every year since. Indeed, since 2006, we have provided more than $9 billion in new funding for initiatives to support science, technology and the growth of innovative firms.
We are making all of these investments because we understand the importance of science at large. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said, "Science powers commerce." But commerce also helps to power science. We know that basic research provides the innovations that enter the market and produce economic growth. And from economic growth comes the ability to invest in basic research. It is the classic virtuous circle.
Our high standard of living is owed to this circle, and it is why we are complementing existing basic research investments with more commercially focused business-led ones.
We are working to promote the commercialization of ideas because the quality of life of Canadians depends on stronger productivity and innovation in the private sector just as our ability to further invest in basic science does.
To this end, through Economic Action Plan 2013 we are strengthening the private sector's access to public research through programs that help companies partner with post-secondary institutions.
Led by businesses, these new networks and Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research are helping researchers and entrepreneurs translate ideas and innovations in the lab into new products in the marketplace.
I am pleased to say that the initiatives we are announcing today build on that foundation. In the case of the new Genomic Applications Partnership Program, it takes it to the next level.
This is a critical next step as genomics moves from academia to industry—opening up new opportunities to apply genomics research and creating greater impetus for its funding.
Congratulations again to Genome Canada on these wonderful initiatives. And thank you to all of the researchers who are pointing us to the future in these most exciting of times. I look forward to hearing more about advancements in genomics and how they are transforming our society and our economy.
