Innovation and Competitiveness

A discussion on the need to expand the current legal framework for innovation and competitiveness added another dimension to the Roundtable. One participant stated that Canada is "second in the world in terms of discoveries in biotechnology, in number of dollars, and in number of companies."  As a result, Canada is at a critical point in terms of the ethical implications of these discoveries. Participants also remarked that while Canadian scientists are making key contributions to the scientific community, the current legal framework is inadequately fostering these developments. Participants looked to the government to nurture the growth of scientific industries by providing ethically sound and efficient decisions in modifying the existing patent and intellectual property legislation. To sustain the competitiveness of the Canadian financial sector, government leadership was also urged.

Patents and Intellectual Property

Many emerging issues associated with patents and intellectual property are creating new challenges for Canadian society.  In response, participants proposed that the Department of Justice take a lead role in developing a legal environment that will reflect both the evolving values of Canadians and the needs of innovation-dependent industries.  The Vice-President of BIOTECanada stated that, as the biotechnology sector grows swiftly, the industry "needs regulation and wants regulation."  However, she cautioned against the inclusion of ethical and social values into patent legislation, such as the Patent Act, as this could threaten the ability of such legislation to operate effectively.   These comments were echoed by the President of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, who urged greater speed in adopting legislative and regulatory changes to ensure that infrastructure remains able to compete internationally by attracting high technology business to Canada. Particular issues identified concerned the slowness of Canadian drug approvals and the question of patentability of higher lifeforms leading to Canadian companies selecting the U.S.A. or Europe as a base for their research and development.

Financial Sector

The issue of competitiveness was also brought up in terms of Canada's financial sector. 

Concerns were raised regarding a number of recent attempts by provincial governments to regulate the business of banking, an exclusively federal jurisdiction. For instance, the Senior Vice-President of the Canadian Bankers Association noted that in addition to jurisdictional concerns, the regulatory overlap and duplication threatens the competitiveness of Canada's banking sector and the economy as a whole.  He noted that the federal government needs to play a strong leadership role in ensuring that federal jurisdiction in this area is not eroded and further, that concerted efforts by all governments across Canada need to be made to improve regulatory efficiency.  He pointed out that if the government does not respond appropriately to these jurisdictional concerns, "we may lose the efficiency and effectiveness of the banking system that we currently have".  For these reasons, the Canadian Bankers Association representative urged the Department of Justice to get involved in the British Columbia and Alberta court cases that raise these important issues. 

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