If the facts hold up to public scrutiny,
enthusiastic support will naturally follow.
(see letter to editor)

So far, Trent university's DNA cluster project has received $13 million of public money and promoters claim it will create thousands of high-tech jobs in Peterborough. A very real obstacle to the project’s success is the continued absence of private sector participation. "Without it," to quote an Examiner editorial (reprinted below), "the cluster dream is just that... an unrealized dream." We agree that project promoters should get every chance to prove they’re right, but would add "before we gamble any more taxpayers' money."

We need the enthusiasm and initiative of the promoters of this project and others, but let' do it right and sensibly using the cautions of any prudent investor, including identifying the consequences if project does not go as planned if private investors do not appear. Taxpayers have not, for example, been informed how Trent plans to solve a conflict of interest problem regarding the ownership and control of the intellectual property; a problem that can and may be the Achilles heel as far as attracting private sector business partners is concerned.

The Examiner correctly identified that Trent’s continued refusal to share a business plan (if indeed one exists) with city council is a concern that should be pursued. We want to be satisfied there are contingency plans to handle the consequences in the event of potential failures of various aspects of the plan, for example if private investment levels do not meet the critical mass necessary for the cluster to be viable. We do not want to be left holding the bag when it can be avoided. A business plan would typically address such issues.

That's why, in part, members of the Peterborough and Trent communities have been making the repeated call for transparency in the management of this project. We've seen building projects at Trent run way behind schedule and way over budget. We've witnessed Trent's debt rising due to an apparent lack of planning and in the absence of board oversight. We've seen the Senate loose its voice in the bicameral management of the university. We want Trent to be successful but management and its board have lost the trust and good will of our communities.

We at OurTrent see the call for transparency and accountability around the DNA cluster project as an opportunity to regain some of that lost trust and good will.

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Letter to Editor
Peterborough Examiner - February 24, 2005, page A4
Re: "DNA cluster touted to transform city" (Feb 19)

The DNA cluster project, we're told, will act as a catalyst propelling our region into a hitherto unknown era of prosperity with jobs for us and our kids, along with genetically modified strawberries and steaks. However, simply pontificating that the cluster project will be successful will not make it so, no matter how appealing the spin, glossy the literature, or delicious the breakfast.

Denis Ferkany might be forgiven his enthusiasm for the project - his job is, after all, to promote it. If cluster promoters want public support, then please present the facts openly rather than insult us with vacuous promotional hype.

Tell us which private investors have invested what amounts. Show us how the plan is not contingent on the MNR moving to cluster space at higher rates than they pay now, or for a lease term that exceeds Ministry guidelines. Explain how the project is not dependent on an allegedly vulnerable rabies-related grant stream that may dry up under competing health care and education pressures for government dollars. Demonstrate how the project will create a revenue stream and help alleviate Trent's multi‑million dollar debt. Show how you will assure this new revenue will contribute to the quality of a Trent education and how corporate interests will not interfere with the university's academic mission. Dispel rumours by disclosing cold, hard, verifiable facts.

If the facts hold up to public scrutiny, enthusiastic support will naturally follow.

Ken Brown
Bolivar Street

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DNA CLUSTER
Look to future
By Examiner Staff
Editorials - Tuesday, February 22, 2005 @ 08:00

The DNA cluster project at Trent University has been getting a lot of attention in the past two weeks, a fair bit of it critical.

Some of the criticism is justified, most is suspect. But whatever their relative strengths and weakness, the various concerns all lumped together don’t come close to offsetting the potential value the project has for Peterborough.

That potential was the highlight of a presentation by cluster supporters to a Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corp. meeting last Friday. Yes, it was a case of the committed preaching, for the most part, to the converted. And yes, there isn’t much to sell at this point other than potential.

But every development plan starts that way. Investment in an idea is required. That means an investment of time and dedication, but also of money. Without capital, the buildings and equipment required to move an idea from theory to function will never appear. And without a functioning infrastructure, no project will grow beyond being just another interesting idea.

So, at the moment much of the cluster project sales pitch is geared toward raising money.
Correspondingly, that’s where most of the criticism is focused.

The project’s financial situation is well known. It has a commitment of $13 million in total from the federal and provincial governments and the City of Peterborough. Cluster officials are ready to build a $19.5 million laboratory and research facility at Trent as the first phase of the project. They are still counting on more government investment.

Four very public criticisms of the project have been in the news this month, some new, some continuing. They’re worth looking at individually.

• Fred Gilbert, the president of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay says a DNA cluster at Trent is just reproducing facilities that already exist at his university and the federal and provincial governments shouldn’t fund it. Not surprisingly, cluster officials disagree.

Whether the two labs will do some of the same work isn’t really important. Gilbert is hoping DNA research will do the same thing for Lakehead that Trent is trying to do here. The universities are competing for research and capital funding, which is healthy. For the sake of Peterborough, we hope Trent comes out ahead. If anything, Gilbert’s interest in diverting funding to Lakehead indicates that others see a bright future in the project.

• Two wildlife groups said animal rabies research that is part of the cluster project through its connection to the local Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) laboratory is aimed at a non-problem and is wasting taxpayers’ money. They argue the entire project should be shut down.

If rabies research was all the cluster was about, we’d agree. But the hope is DNA research related to forensic science, immune system reaction and vaccines, food safety and other fields will develop. Also, those wildlife organizations have been battling the MNR for years, and are particularly upset that the ministry attempts to kill all healthy foxes, skunks and raccoons within a five-kilometre radius of any case of rabies. That policy may or may not be necessary, but it has nothing to do with the DNA project.

• Some Trent students staged a protest over the focus on bringing in private companies that would finance and trade research with the university. “Corporatization” of the academic world through research funding is an issue, but one that universities have been managing for decades. Trent will continue to do so.

• In return for a $2-million investment by city taxpayers, some city council members want to see the cluster’s business plan. Trent officials have so far refused. It’s a valid concern and council as a whole should press to get better confirmation of how the cluster’s promise is intended to be turned into real returns. But in the meantime, the city should continue its strong support.

The one real potential problem is a shortage of private sector participation. Without it, the cluster dream is just that . . . an unrealized dream. But everything is being done to attract those private companies, and it is still too early to expect results.

So far, $13 million has been invested in the hope of creating thousands of high-tech jobs here over the next two decades. The people behind the project make a very convincing argument that it will succeed. They should get every chance to prove they’re right.