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Council balks at funding medical research facility

Greater Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk says supporters of a medical research facility in Sudbury should go to pharmaceutical companies for funding instead of relying on government.
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Dr. Hoang-Thanh Le, a researcher at the Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada, is working on a nicotine vaccine that can be inhaled through the nose. AMRIC hopes the city will help fund its $15.5-million plan to move out of the hospital and into its own facility, a former school on Walford Road. File photo.
Greater Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk says supporters of a medical research facility in Sudbury should go to pharmaceutical companies for funding instead of relying on government.

“It's a wonderful project, but I think it needs some private investment into it to make it flourish,” Matichuk said at Tuesday's budget committee meeting. “There is a lot of funding in here that is all government funding.

“Pharmaceutical companies have billions and billions of dollars. I think they should be going back to the pharmaceutical companies and looking for money.”

Backers of the Advanced Medical Research Institute are hoping the city will provide a total of $2 million over the next three years to get the project off the ground. Of that amount, $750,000 would come from the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation and $1.25 million directly from the city budget.

But the issue was debated on the day councillors were told provincial funding cuts will be $1.17 million deeper than expected in 2014, meaning the city is getting $2.9 million less than in 2013.

Ward 10 Coun. Frances Caldarelli said with such financial pressures, they have to take a hard look at all optional spending. Considering they already give the hospital $1 million a year, the city is already doing its part, she said.

“We've been talking about whether a lot of the things we do are really municipal responsibilities or not,” Caldarelli said. “As much as I would like to, I cannot support a motion for this kind of contribution.”

“The situation has changed dramatically,” agreed Ward 3 Coun. Claude Berthiaume. “I don't think we can afford this.”

But Ward 7 Coun. Dave Kilgour reminded councillors that they weren't being asked to make a commitment, rather just to include it as a budget option. As a member of the GSDC, Kilgour said they struggled with the same issues councillors were debating.

But he said every major hospital has a research arm, and AMRIC is being modelled on facility in Thunder Bay.

“They have been very successful in acquiring money from those big companies,” Kilgour said. “But until you have a facility, you don't have a chance at getting that money.”

And Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann argued that, while budgets are tight, that doesn't mean the city should say no.

“The times are not, perhaps, the best, but they weren't the best when we developed Science North,” Landry-Altmann said.

Just as municipal support was key to Science North and the success of the school of architecture, she said councillors should think long term. Saying no could kill a project that would benefit all Sudburians, she said.

“This is a project for the future, and I will support it 100 per cent.”

Council opted to defer the decision until its Dec. 4 meeting.

If successful, AMRIC hopes to locate its facility in the former St. Theresa's School on Walford Road, which it plans to renovate at a cost of $15.5 million.

Founded late in 2012, the institute's focus is developing treatments for health concerns in the North, including geriatric medicine, chronic and infectious diseases, and cancer. A special emphasis is on developing vaccines or finding new uses for existing vaccines to treat the conditions.

AMRIC is currently located in Health Sciences North, and employs roughly 60 researchers and support staff. Officials estimate employment at the institute will reach 160, with spinoff jobs ranging from 160-210, with the overall benefit to Sudbury's economy at between $42M-$48M.

AMRIC's original request for $10 million mirrored the support the city gave to Sudbury's new school of architecture, which is being built on Elgin Street downtown. However, plans for a new, $60-million facility have been delayed in favour of getting established at the St. Theresa's location first.

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