Mr. Speaker, we not only need to look at research and innovation in a laboratory but we also need to look at the bigger laboratory, which is the population of Canada. Good research on poverty, violence, the environment, housing, education and equity are the things mentioned in a recent University of Toronto Bulletin where it stated what happens without social justice and what happens if the average age of a Canadian is 80 years of age and the average age of someone living in Liberia is 44 years age.
It is important that research goes on in the social sciences in order for us as governments to fund what works and to stop funding what does not work. It sometimes becomes too easy for us to just fund things because it makes us feel good. This kind of applied research, in terms of all policies and programs, becomes extraordinarily important for a government to be doing the most it can for its people. We know that poor people do not live as long. We know we have to be doing more.
I thank the member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour for all his hard work on the social justice issues.