New Ministry, New Minister, New Approach

By Shawn Lawrence

Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation Reza Moridi. Photo: Catherine J Capek Photography

On February 11, 2013, the title of Premier of Ontario officially passed from Dalton McGuinty to Kathleen Wynne, and one of her first acts in office was a renewal of the cabinet serving alongside her.

Among the more noteworthy changes to cabinet was the re-establishment of a Ministry devoted to Innovation. And with that, the Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) is back in the game.

The person heading up this new incarnation of MRI is Reza Moridi, an awardwinning scientist, engineer, educator, business leader and community activist who represents the riding of Richmond Hill. Born in Azerbaijani-populated city of Urmia in Iran, Moridi was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2007, and was re-elected in 2011. He moved to Canada with his family in 1990, and has lived in Richmond Hill since 1991. In his prior life, Moridi was a nuclear energy specialist, but before long, the call of public service was too much to ignore.

“I’ve had a passion for politics ever since I was a young boy and that passion has only grown stronger. Coming from a very troubled area of the world, Canada opened its arms to me and to members of my community and for many years I felt as though I owed Canada so much and needed to give, and that’s why I ran for office. Taking on this post is equally important.”

Interestingly, Premier Wynne has chosen a scientist to head up MRI. This is a fact Moridi is fully aware of as he takes the reins of MRI at a critical juncture. Indeed, his appointment is welcome news to scientists and science-based businesses in Ontario that have long laboured to get themselves heard by government, but have struggled with a communication gap that exists between what the research and business communities want from government and what government can provide. In some instances, the message of what is wanted can be lost in translation.

As a scientist, Moridi sees himself equipped to understand the message coming from industry and scientists alike. He is also able to understand and appreciate the connection between research, business and the economy. This stems from a long career in academia serving as the Dean of the School of Sciences, Chair of the Physics Department, University Chief Librarian and as member of the Senate at Alzahra University in Tehran. The Minister has co-authored over 150 research papers, technical reports, training manuals and articles. He has also presented at scientific conferences all over the world. He believes his background in science will give him a leg up on his predecessors in heading up this Ministry. Coupled with his background in business (Moridi has also worked as a CEO and Chair in the electrical industry), his experience will make it easier to engage with the scientific and business communities, to connect the dots so to speak.

“I fully understand the research community and the lab environment because that’s where I worked for a number of years personally as a student, as a professor, as a researcher, and as a supervisor of students. And I’ve never forgotten my scientific roots. I was also a business executive for a few years, and understand how businesses operate. This background gives me a unique opportunity to bridge the divide that exists between industry, the scientific community and also the political decision makers,” he explained.

The Ministry of Research and Innovation like Minister Moridi has also undergone its own sort of evolution, having amalgamated with Ministry of Economic

“Everything starts with imagination, which leads to knowledge, to invention, to pilot scale production and then to full scale production. Then you need a good salesman to sell it.”

— Reza Moridi

Development and Trade in 2011, and now finding itself back on its own. In defining the role of the new Ministry, Moridi believes that the distinction between the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment (MEDTE) is that its focus is on the trade and the economy of today, whereas MRI is about the trade and the economy of tomorrow.

“MEDTE is mainly involved with current trade activities and current products – this includes overseeing the manufacturing industry and facilitating trade with foreign countries. MRI’s mandate is to create the new products tomorrow and bring them to the commercialization stage. Once the product is on the market than it is MEDTE’s job to go out and sell it,” he said.

As such, the responsibility of overseeing the bioscience, biopharma, medical technology and clean tech sectors no longer falls under the umbrella of just one ministry, but rather it falls under multiple ministries.

“Everything starts with imagination, which leads to knowledge, to invention, to pilot scale production and then to full scale production. Then you need a good salesman to sell it. Each ministry has a role to play in that chain. Our role is helping the inventors, supporting innovation and research development and then helping them to commercialize the results of their research. Once it is commercialized on a wider scale, I guess this is where MEDTE enters into the equation.”

The recent investment of $100 million over five years into the Ontario Brain Institute announced in March, is an example of how the government will invest in research and jump start the engine for the economy of tomorrow. The province’s support will help the Ontario Brain Institute expand its research into the areas of neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and depression and continue its important research on cerebral palsy, autism and epilepsy. It will also allow the institute to leverage additional investments from various partners including industry, philanthropic, federal and international sources.

“These types of investments are going to lead to new inventions and new products, new services, and that’s going to be commercialized in the future hopefully. The goal is to continue building on our local researcher’s achievements and bring good jobs, investment, and the best minds to the province.”

It’s a model that seems to be working in this sector for Ontario and reason enough for the province to continue enabling public/private partnerships going forward. He is also proud of his government’s track record in supporting this type of innovation.

“Whether you look at the history of our government’s performance in the past – almost ten years now – we have invested $3.6 billion dollars in research and innovation since we came to the office leveraged by another $2.5 billion in private sector investments. The fact is, we as a government cannot do everything alone, and neither can the private sector. I think partnerships between academia, the research community, and of course government in setting the right environment for the public and private sectors to come together is very important. Gone are the days where a researcher sitting in his or her lab, or a business could do it all alone. It’s a more complicated world we live in,” he said.

Likewise Minister Moridi believes Ontario needs to continue to work hard at collaborating with other jurisdictions.

“I would like to see more collaboration between our scientists and scientists in other countries because true innovation is never accomplished working in isolation, nor is it accomplished by ignoring what’s going elsewhere in the world. The work that our scientists may be doing here in Ontario, there could be similar work underway somewhere else like China, Israel or Europe. We have to remember that while innovation is a global competition, there are opportunities out there where we can collaborate rather than compete and be further ahead.”

Past examples of these collaborative international efforts include the establishment of OBI, partnerships like the Stem Cell Consortium and past trade missions to Asia.

Likewise, the government of Ontario isn’t afraid to look internationally for business opportunities.

“Our government’s policy is to expand and grow business, to create jobs in Ontario. As such, we are very keen on welcoming businesses not only in the innovation sector but in every sector of business and industry. We want to see investment in Ontario rise, and while we are doing very well, Ontario is the second most favourite jurisdiction in North America after California for foreign investments, but we can do better.”

Initiatives such as reducing capital tax from 33.7 percent in 2009 to 18.7 per cent in 2010 are examples of the measures the Ontario government has taken to create a favourable environment for businesses to come to Ontario he adds.

Ontario is already one of the largest biomedical research centres in North America, with more than 900 biomedical companies employing more than 43,000 Ontarians as well as another 15,000 researchers and research staff working in the health science sector at local hospitals and research institutions. As such, the infrastructure is in place in Ontario to make investing here attractive .

“In Ontario, particularly in the life sciences area, we have great talent and great institutions. Our teaching academic hospitals, our universities, our research clusters like MaRS Discovery District are among the best in the world.”

Minister Moridi believes this is a sound base to build upon and proof that Ontario is one of the best places in the world to innovate.

To see this story online visit http://biotechnologyfocus.ca/ whats-old-is-new-again/