TORONTO (CUP) —An initiative Industry Minister Allan Rock promises will make Canada more innovative and globally competitive is drawing criticism and doubt in Ontario.

The province’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities has called the Innovation Strategy that Rock and fellow federal cabinet member Jane Stewart announced in mid-February a “failure.”

The paper outlined several commitments from the federal government aimed at ensuring Canada’s competitiveness in fields like research and development and education.

Among the promises for education were assurances that more graduate and PhD students would be admitted to Canadian universities, more money would be provided for research at schools and the Trudeau scholarships would be created to entice top students to study in Canada.

“We’re appalled by the federal government. They’ve failed the people of Ontario,” said Dave Ross, a spokesperson for Training, Colleges and Universities Minister Dianne Cunningham. “Ontarians need to stand up and be counted. They contribute their fair share to our federal government and now it’s time they got some back.”

Ross says the province has been negotiating a labour-market development agreement with Ottawa for over a year. This agreement would see the federal government contribute money to train people in the province.

Ross says the Liberals won’t commit to the funding.

“If they sign, it will allow us to train 200,000 more people,” said Ross. “They are moving this money away from training to ribbon cuttings and job kiosks that don’t work. People need training.”

Ian Boyko, national chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), is wary of the new federal plan, citing room for increasing corporate influence on campuses as a major concern.

“This could be a double-edged sword for Canadian universities,” said Boyko. “[The CFS] tends to be very critical of public/private partnerships. They’re a Pandora’s box. It could create more corporate influence on schools.”

Boyko says the much-lauded Trudeau scholarships are also problematic.

“[The Liberals] are getting a lot of mileage out of the name,” said Boyko. “We’re disappointed with the overnight decision to create these Trudeau scholarships and the lack of consultation that went into that decision.”

Rock, however, is adamant the Innovation Strategy will push Canada forward in the global economic market for the next decade. He says the declining standard of living in Canada is directly linked to the education system.

“These are not just numbers on a screen,” Rock said of recent standard-of-living figures that show Canada falling behind other G8 countries.

“They have real consequences for our lives. They result in fewer investment dollars coming to Canada and more of our young people looking south for opportunity.”

Rock also says the strategy is an important investment in people. “A skilled workforce will be to the knowledge economy what factories were to the industrial revolution.”