On April 26, 1966, the House of Commons carried a Bill on second and third readings to provide for the establishment of a Science Council of Canada. The Bill was presented by the Hon. C. M. Drury, Minister of Industry, whose remarks in the debate appear below

Document: On April 26, 1966, the House of Commons carried a Bill on second and third readings to provide for the establishment of a Science Council of Canada. The Bill was presented by the Hon. C. M. Drury, Minister of Industry, whose remarks in the debate appear below. HoN. C. M. DRURY: Mr. Speaker, in moving that the Science Council of Canada bill be read a second time there are some aspects of its intended functions and the operation of the council, as well as other matters, which contribute to an understanding of the purpose which I should like at this time to bring to the attention of the house. Frequent reference has been made over many years, in the public press and elsewhere, to the amounts of money the government of Canada has provided to support research and development in this country, often enough drawing an unfavourable comparison with relative amounts allocated for a similar purpose by the United States, Great Britain and other countries. I believe it useful to examine past performance briefly, to consider trends and to give some perspective to the position in which we now find ourselves or which may be reasonably anticipated in the years immediately ahead. In the United States, government expenditures on research and development which were inconsequential at the beginning of this century, expanded slowly until the early 1950's. By 1953 the total amount was about $3 billion a year. At that time the gathering momentum was such that expenditures for this purpose increased by large factors annually until by 1964 the total amounted to some $15 billion a year. At the present time there is strong evidence that a stage of levelling off has been reached and that further expansion will comprise little more than an upward adjustment related to inflation and to the so-called sophistication of equipment. It appears that little or no increase and even a slight reduction - due to completion of major capital installations is projected for the coming year. The expenditures in the United States represent about 15 per Journal of Canadian Studies cent of the national budget or approximately 3 per cent of the gross national product. Whether this is the correct, or the ultimate, or the maximum proportion of government funds which should be spent for research and development is a matter for conjecture; but for the present, at least, it seems to be the proportion of resources that the people of the United States are prepared to allocate for this purpose. In Canada the situation is comparable in form but off-set in time by perhaps 10 to 15 years. Although complete statistics are not available it is well known that in the first quarter of this century the amount spent by government for research and development was exceedingly small indeed. One estimate suggests that by 1939 the total amount was about $7 million a year. During world war II there was a substantial increase and by 1953 the amount had risen to over $100 million, of which some $5 million went to the universities. Canada is now entering the period of rapid growth in this area which was experienced in the United States more than a decade ago. The expenditure in 1964-65 at $330 million is about 4.6 per cent of the federal budget - rather less than one third of the comparable ratio in the United States. All the evidence points to the possibility that within the next ten years the proportion of resources which the people of Canada will have to be prepared to spend on research and development, if we are to extend or even maintain our position in science and technology in the international scene, will be as much as three times what it is at present. The exact ratio cannot be predicted, of course, but will be determined by circumstances and the outlook, the desires and the imagination of the people of Canada and their willingness to participate adequately in these great enterprises. At a recent international conference on science and economy, Dr. Alexander King, director of Scientific Affairs of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development and a long time student of...