Thank you Mr. Chair.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your presentations.
I have a question for Mr. Grégoire.
I very much appreciated your presentation. I believe education is key to our future prosperity, and I certainly agree with your analysis of the devastation caused by the cuts that were made to the Canada social transfer by the former Liberal government.
You've asked the government to restore that funding in the amount of $3.5 billion. First, I'm sure you know that the government made a significant investment in colleges and universities this year through the knowledge infrastructure program. I hope your university received some of that funding and it's helpful.
We have also made new investments of $87.5 million in graduate scholarships, $48 million for research partnerships in community colleges across Canada, $15 million for quantum computing, and several other programs of that sort. So I hope we're addressing the needs across Canada.
With respect to the $3.5 billion that you're requesting though, do you think it's a good idea simply to provide it to the provinces and let them decide how to spend it in education, or would you suggest that the government mandate how the funds are to be used?
For example, I note that there is a good news report today, a prediction that Canada's information technology industry will create 84,000 highly skilled jobs in the next four years. Should we be directing funds towards certain types of study or industry, or should we simply allow the provinces to make their own determinations on how it should be spent?