[citation needed] Early in John McDougall's tenure at NRC, in June 2012, there was a controversy concerning Tim Hortons gift cards sent to employees who had just been laid off.
[2] On July 29, 2014, Canada's chief information officer announced that the NRC's computer system had been hacked by a "Chinese state-sponsored actor" earlier in the summer.
[notes 2] He established his own consulting company Dalcor Innoventures Ltd. in 1975[12] which specialized in large projects ($100 million) in Alberta and around the world undertaking "research, proposals, regulatory approvals, public and stakeholder relations, management, and construction" in "offshore oil, transportation, ports, pipelines, synthetic materials, and coal.
"[11] [Canadians]We do a great job of generating fundamental knowledge with a lot of basic research and we’re very sophisticated users of technologically intensive products and services, but historically we’ve done a very poor job of converting ideas into marketable products and services.In 2003 the ARC McDougall argued that by 2013 parts of the technology to make clean energy would be available.
"[10] ARC was one of the developers of a technology that "transforms manure into green electricity, heat, organic fertilizers, and reusable water, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.
"[10] ARC "validated a new steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process and undertook collaborative research and technology improvements in Canada's wood products industry.
[16] In 2008 researchers from five I-CAN organizations were developing a Carbon Algae Recycling System (CARS) to "feed waste heat and flue gas containing CO2 from industrial exhaust stacks to micro-algae growing in artificial ponds.
In June 2012, 65 NRC employees who had just been laid off received $3 gift cards to be spent at the Tim Hortons chain of coffee shops.
The cards were accompanied by a letter from Mr. McDougall reading in part: "Thank you for the contribution you have made in helping NRC successfully work through our massive transformation.
[24] There was a steep drop in research publications and new patents from NRC during John R. McDougall's stint as president; scientific staff was cut significantly.
An article published in April 2016 and based on information from the office of the Science Minister gave the following figures for the period 2011-2015: "In the five years from 2011 through 2015, the number of studies in academic journals were 1,889, 1,650, 1,204, 1,017 and 549, respectively.
In January 2014, NRC employees at the fire-safety testing facility in Mississippi Mills were told to start drinking bottled water.
23 months later (December 2015), residents of Mississippi Mills with homes near the facility were warned by NRC that their well-water was contaminated with toxic chemicals called perfluorinated alkyl substances, often found in firefighting foam.
[9] In July 2016, Acting President Maria Aubrey formally acknowledged that the NRC's National Fire Laboratory was the source of the groundwater contamination in Mississippi Mills.
[9] In December 2016, it was reported that owners of homes near the lab in Mississippi Mills were launching a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against NRC over water contamination.