Madam Speaker, I requested this adjournment debate because I am disappointed at the semblance of an answer the Minister of Industry gave to a very simple question I asked on March 13.
According to the January economic statement, which I read with a great deal of interest, the government is increasing funding for Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council scholarships, which is highly commendable. The problem is that this increase is to be used to fund only economic research.
The whole scientific community is complaining about this increase, and for good reason. This false increase by the government shows that the Conservatives are driven by ideology, although with a Minister of State for Science and Technology who questions Darwin's theory of evolution, I should not be too surprised.
I would like to share the fears that have been repeatedly expressed by the entire scientific and academic community. And I stress the word “entire”, because we are not talking about just a few groups, but the whole scientific and academic community. Researchers are afraid, and for good reason, that targeting economic research with scholarships will force them to focus on priorities they do not share.
This tells me—and not just me, but the entire university community in Quebec and Canada—that for the Conservative government, other areas of research in the social sciences, such as literature and philosophy to name a couple, are second class disciplines. For the Conservatives, everything goes to the economy and there is nothing left for anything else.
I find the Conservatives' attitude deplorable. These people defend free market ideas. Must I explain to them how the law of the free market works? I think so. The free market means allowing an invisible hand to manage supply and demand without government intervention.
However, the Conservatives' actions when it comes to research go against their own way of thinking. Scholarships in the social sciences were granted based on the demand in each discipline. The control they want to exert over the granting of scholarships leaves no room for the law of the free market, which is how it worked before their intervention.
I have seen the Conservatives renege on their promises many times, and the research scholarships issue is just one more example. They should be ashamed of themselves for acting with such cynicism and renouncing their own ideals.
And this major research on the economy will be completed when—in three, four or five years? It will be too late for this research to foster economic recovery. That is one less argument for the minister, one less argument in favour of the government taking control of research. In the meantime, the other social sciences are pushed aside by this government.
My question for the minister was straightforward. Who was consulted? I said that I was not the only one with concerns. Allow me to quote a few key players in research and the university world in Canada who have the same concerns: Gary Corbett, vice-president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada; Louise Dandurand, Chair of CREPUQ; Martin Lefebvre, Concordia University Research Chair in Film Studies; the FEUQ as well as the Canadian Federation of Students; the Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d'université; and the Canadian Association of University Teachers.
I would like to repeat my question and caution the minister of state. First, I will not accept excuses or an evasive answer claiming that Canadians were consulted. Second, key stakeholders in the university world are watching the minister of state. I will repeat my question. Who was consulted?