The immediate benefit that we can speak to is actually the training of the students who are currently in college. No one would argue about the money we spend on post-secondary education. I will say that Canada is number one in the G-7 in terms of our expenditures on higher education as a percentage of our GDP. That is a fantastic story.
Why do we do that? It is because we know that in the future that level of expertise and that level of skill by citizens will ensure them a good-quality job and ultimately a good quality of life. So we train students right now at the Perimeter Institute, but it really is the future benefits that will come from the discoveries and the innovation that these scientists discuss every single day—game-changing, transformative technologies—that will in fact create, as has always been the case over the history of Canada, those jobs of the future.
As we do, and we should be primarily concerned with our economy now and jobs now, it is imperative that a government maintain for its people some focus on the economy of the future and the jobs that come with that economy. And that is something I take very seriously in this role in support of institutes like the Perimeter.
Of course, I don't want to go back to it either, but I will tell you that I'm very passionate about the reputation that Canada has currently in the science and technology community around the world. It's exactly why scientists are coming here from the United Kingdom, from the United States, from Germany, from France, and from Australia. It is because we have an incredible reputation right now, and when we make mention and don't correct the record, it throws a black spot on that reputation. Therein lies my passion about the issue.
The fact that it's still on the website today concerns me greatly that it wasn't a mistake, that there is intention behind this, and I will battle and fight for the scientists and researchers of this country because they are the best in the world. They do the best work in the world, and they do it for us.