I have followed the discussion on research funding with great interest.
    The argument that government should not be in the research business but
    only the private sector is attractive to some, especially for those in
    business to sell the spinoffs of research.  But, lets look briefly at
    the enormous benefits society now enjoys because of publicly- funded
    research.
 
    The US government has plunked billions into NASA over many decades.  I
    recognize that this research was principally fueled by political and
    military considerations but, today we enjoy an enormous array of consumer
    goods whose origins came from publicly funded research (ps. lets not
    forget the Internet we are using right now, and the chips inside the very
    computers we use right now!).
 
    In the agricultural field, we can use the celebrated example of canola.
    The primary world producers of rapeseed were Poland and India.  Then, in
    the seventies, Agriculture Canada unveiled this marvelous new crop called
    Canola after years of breeding.  These studies were publicly funded and
    as such, Canadian farmers had ready access to this crop.  Today, Canada
    is the largest canola seed and oil producer in the world, which has
    become a billion dollar industry.  I question whether farmers
    collectively (and the numerous small prairie communities they live in)
    would have benefited equally when Canola would have been introduced
    initially by a multinational.
 
    In today's environment of government cutbacks, reductions in
    publicly-funded research is inevitable and also needed.  The process will
    hopefully identify research priorities, but I for one believe public
    -funded research has its place and future.
 
    P. van Westendorp                           [log in to unmask]
    Provincial Apiculturist