Canadian Government Executive - Volume 27 - Issue 02

12 / Canadian Government Executive // March/April 2021 INNOVATION BY ELLEN CORKERY-DOOHER AND LAURA W. GELLER DIGITAL, LOW-CARBON ECONOMY BUILDING CANADA’S I n the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages of critical medi- cal supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) were common- place. At Canada’s Ministry of In- novation, Science, and Economic Devel- opment (ISED), staff quickly realized they could use the relationships with the business sector they had built over time, in industries such as aerospace, manufacturing, and auto- motive, to help solve this problem. Initiatives and incentives were pulled together, and soon textile manufacturers that normally made snow jackets were mass-producing medical gowns. The ISED ministry’s leader, Simon Ken- nedy, was well-positioned to orchestrate this pivot. During his three decades in public ser- vice, Kennedy has provided policymaking guidance to the central government; served AN INTERVIEW WITH DEPUTY MINISTER OF INNOVATION, SCIENCE, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SIMON KENNEDY ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR PANDEMIC RECOVERY AND GROWTH.