Finance committee  Thank you. As federal government agencies, I think our mission is to optimize the money we get and also to suggest the opportunity for increased contributions. I think our sense here today is to share with you our vision of what I like to call the 21st century paradigm of build

Finance committee  It's so interesting. All the questions discussed so far today—monetary policy, global engagement for trade, regulation of a sector's railroad, public policy for petroleum, behavioural change, wearing hockey helmets, encadrement des jeunes—are fields that we're actively studying a

Finance committee  In a number of sectors, we have seen that once a product reaches the end of the development line, a relationship has to be established between that product's use and society, culture or an idea of some sort. That means developing a design that attracts customers and adopting uses

Finance committee  Good morning. Thank you very much for inviting us. I am delighted to be here. shoulder to shoulder, as I like to say, with my colleagues from NSERC and CIHR. Together our agencies have prepared a brief that emphasizes the value and impact of the research excellence we foster f

Canadian Heritage committee  I think that's exactly the theme. And because your committee is so concerned with issues of digital content and digital literacy, in terms of that integrated triangle that is going to move us ahead, this committee is in an ideal position to help us as Canadians, and to help the w

Canadian Heritage committee  On the metaphor of bottom-up, top-down, and the new paradigm, the 19th and 20th century paradigm by and large was top-down. You've put your finger on the new dynamic, in which it's both. Often the strength of the bottom-up is significant. It relates to what we were talking about

Canadian Heritage committee  I think it's always a question of balance, but there's no doubt that the creator side is a little unanticipated. When the digital age got going, I don't think it was expected that people would really change from sitting on the couch to wanting to get in there and be part of the s

Canadian Heritage committee  I'll start with the second one first. It's obviously, as you know, a hot international debate around the world. One of the interesting dynamics, though, and I do want to emphasize this a bit, is what's called the open access movement. This has become very important, and it chan

Canadian Heritage committee  One of the key differences, which links back to an earlier question, was that when we thought about endangered languages some years ago, to some extent the idea was that saving them would be a nice thing to do. It would be a generous thing to do. Now we're thinking about this muc

Canadian Heritage committee  In your question I think you put your finger on the answer. You alluded to the multiple players in this: the communities, the businesses, the various jurisdictions, and so on. In this new recognition of complexity, what we see is unlike the situation in the 19th century and 20th

Canadian Heritage committee  That's a fascinating question. It's really pretty recent, I think, dating from the 1960s. Until the 1960s, what they call modernization theory was the driving force of understandings of change. The idea was that slowly but surely, everyone around the world was going to increasi

Canadian Heritage committee  That's a broad question. Canadian identity has evolved tremendously since the 19th century. In each different era, that identity was linked to either an agricultural or urban society. Of course, it is reflected in demographic, economic and cultural changes. Canadian history show

Canadian Heritage committee  It's such an important question. I think during the 1990s, the talk about the digital divide, which had come out very early, quieted down. People went down another path--namely, it's democratizing, it's an equalizer, anyone can get access to this huge library, you don't have to

Canadian Heritage committee  Interesting; actually, we were having the wireless discussion, and I know cities now that are making their cities wireless and so on as a way of attacking this. My sense, at least, is that it's become a key issue of social, economic, and cultural integrity in the country now. I

Canadian Heritage committee  Increasingly, I think, societies are embracing the notion that connectivity is essential. On the content side, increasingly, as Madam Yasmeen was saying.... You know, 1% of Canada is on the web. Countries like Finland, for example, are very concerned about that. Then there's th