Government Operations committee  I would like to share an observation with regard to the projects, more specifically the reduction of tax credits based on salary alone. In my view, this is dangerous. I believe it works very well in some sectors, for instance in the sectors of information technology and communica

Government Operations committee  As I said, one way to achieve that is for governments to step in. However, there are other ways. For instance, the government could invest in new technology information for both businesses and households. Another possibility would be to give out subsidies not for the development

Government Operations committee  —is that the new technologies are actually being used. In that case, it might be a problem—

Government Operations committee  Several studies have examined this issue and have tried to find an answer. There are basically a couple of reasons to explain the situation. First, the Canadian market is relatively small. A small innovation company can only count on a market 10 times smaller, or even more than 1

Government Operations committee  It certainly has not been an obstacle. I am not aware of any studies—which does not mean they do not exist—specifically demonstrating the positive effect of the Internet. It is possible that some studies have been done, but I am sorry, I am not aware of them.

Government Operations committee  A study has recently been conducted under the same principle in a dozen OECD countries. What came out of the study is that companies that export are the ones most likely to innovate. However, this did not apply to every type of export. In fact, it applied to companies which expor

Government Operations committee  I have to point out that we ranked 20th for spending on research and development by the private sector. This is an important distinction, since Canada is one of the countries where the public sector spends more than average. The problem is that the way it spends is not necessaril

Government Operations committee  It is clear that after the period around the year 2000, that is, after the speculative Internet bubble burst, research and development in Canada fell, especially in the private sector. This was partly compensated by an increase or a levelling out of research and development spend

Government Operations committee  In my view, one of the problems is that the government cannot effectively replace the private sector in every area of activity where the private sector should be taking the lead. The problem lies much more with the private sector rather than with any attempt on the part of the go

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to begin by thanking you for inviting me to take part in the work of this committee. I will begin by introducing myself. I have a combined background in engineering and economics. I have been teaching economics at the University of S