You're right, I might surprise you, because I was actually trained by one of the greatest fundamental scientists in the space of wood chemistry.
I happen personally to be of the opinion that the role of universities is to produce people; that the work, the creation of knowledge, is there to produce the people; and that the technology itself is almost secondary. As I mentioned earlier, what we really need, and where Canada has an advantage, in my personal opinion, over, say, its U.S. neighbours, is highly skilled technical people.
Having said that, in terms of fundamental research, I actually don't have a good feeling for what the balance or the mix is in Canada. I know the programs I'm involved with. I like the fact that I can engage directly with universities on a fundamental level and have federal government and provincial agencies support it.
I might be cutting off my nose to spite my face here, but one of the things we've seen in the last five to ten years with this added interest in biorefineries is that many times we're trying to put the cart in front of the horse. These technologies simply are not ready for implementation. There are too many unknowns. These create risks and the margins are too tight.
I would never advocate backing off on fundamental research. I happen to believe that when you produce the people, that's the most important product you have. Fundamental knowledge will always find a way to create value.