Local high-tech leaders are worried a valuable funding program for technology companies would disappear if the Conservative party wins the federal election next Monday.

The impetus behind the party's campaign promise to review all grant programs, including Technology Partnerships Canada, is purely political, said Debbie Weinstein, co-founding partner at LaBarge Weinstein LLP.

The Conservative proposal is designed to shed light on grant-related scandals such as the "billion-dollar boondoggle" involving Human Resources Development Canada's job creation program, Ms Weinstein said, adding the impact on the TPC program could be significant.

"Instead of viewing the benefits (of certain programs), they're saying, 'We're just going to get rid of things that have caused scandals in the past', without looking at the substance of the benefits they're creating to high-tech employment and commercialization," said Ms Weinstein.

Technology Partnerships Canada is a special operating agency of Industry Canada that provides funding for private-sector research and development, as well as demonstration projects. Over the years, several local companies have benefited from the funding program.

Some businesspeople worry the Conservative party sees the program as a corporate subsidy that would be axed according to the party's promise to "cut wasteful corporate subsidies in order to reduce taxes for all businesses".

"I suspect things like the technology partnership program might be in some trouble," said Denzil Doyle, chairman of Capital Alliance Ventures Inc.

Mike Storeshaw, Conservative spokesman, acknowledged his party, if elected, would ask Auditor General Sheila Fraser to conduct a full audit on all federal grant and contribution programs, as well as contracting policies, on an "expedited basis".

The party would act on Ms Fraser's recommendations, he said.

The Conservative platform does not identify programs that might be audited and the party hasn't laid out specific areas to be reduced, said Mr. Storeshaw. As well, the platform doesn't specify whether programs would be frozen before or during an audit.

The platform also doesn't define which programs the party considers to be "business subsidies".

"We've just talked about an overall goal of cutting those and replacing them with lower business taxes, dollar for dollar," said Mr. Storeshaw.

A main driver for the proposed review is the sponsorship scandal involving questionable contracts with Liberal-friendly advertising firms in Quebec, he added.

Ms Weinstein said the new government should cut corporate subsidies that are not working, but not those that help companies.

"It's not just a question of helping the companies that are at the high end, it's also a question of helping the smaller companies so they become larger," she said, emphasizing the importance of Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credits.

Mr. Doyle said the Conservative proposal to cut corporate subsidies while lowering corporate taxes might work because lower tax rates would generate an inclination to "build complete companies in Canada rather than truncated branch plants".

"For one, we have to figure out what it takes to build more large Canadian companies such as Cognos, RIM and ATI. We need large Canadian export-oriented companies. At the moment, so many of our companies just become integrated into other multinationals at a very early stage and they never become export-oriented, or, if they do, all their exporting is in R&D that services the parent company. And that's not going to turn us into a high-tech nation."

Ms Weinstein urged Ottawa's high-tech community to consider which party will not only sustain, but improve government participation in helping high-tech companies commercialize their products worldwide.

From a high-tech perspective, she added, the worst outcome of the election would be a minority government, which would lead to uncertainty and the possibility the government would do nothing for new funding initiatives for high-tech, said Ms Weinstein.

For example, there are many funding projects at the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation that need the federal government's support, she said.

"But these projects are in hiatus because of the impending election. And my fear is that, if there's a minority government, there will be no new initiatives."

Polls released last week suggest the Liberal and Conservative parties remain neck and neck. An Ipsos-Reid poll concluded there is a good possibility the Conservatives will form the next government with a "strong" minority. However, a COMPAS poll said the Liberals hold a razor-thin 35-34 lead over the Conservatives.