Industry committee  Obviously, the additional demands in the educational sector where you are trying to push the bounds of knowledge lead you to invest in significant machinery: the updating of buildings and of course materials, and hiring good people who are exceptionally good teachers and exceptionally good researchers to staff these facilities.

Industry committee  This is also different depending on the creator. When discussing this, I also think it is incredibly important to recognize that different creators in different spheres will need different mechanisms. Obviously, in some forms of research, tri-agency funding and real commitment to scientific research in the country is key and making sure that's well supported.

Industry committee  I would say that, overall, the post-secondary education sector to a degree is similar to the health care sector. It just experiences a higher inflation rate. The material and inputs that go into post-secondary rise at a higher rate than general inflation. This includes any kind of academic and literature materials, and this includes a lot of the inputs that are expected at a post-secondary institution, like any kind of machinery and that kind of material.

Industry committee  We think that, depending on the open format you're talking about, this is going to be a changing business format. For something like an open educational resources environment, this is something that's relatively new that generally is provincially supported. It's something that, depending on the model its been based on, has been up to a few million dollars a year based on course books that were in high demand.

Industry committee  From a student perspective, we would stress that this is the kind of thing you need to make sure is flexible and adjustable and that individuals not be caught in a significant amount of red tape in what they're going to be doing, and giving some ability, especially to students, who are going to be some of the leading innovators....

Industry committee  We obviously think this is part of the ability to be innovative in a modern economy. A lot of content generation—you can search YouTube or go pretty much to any kind of material circulated widely on the web—relies on the ability to have a frame of reference that people understand and the ability to recreate and reimagine those things.

Industry committee  We were absolutely in support of the previous government's work of building a forward and open access policy for the tri-agencies. That was something we stood on very actively and we saluted them when it was fully implemented. Moving forward, in general terms, yes, we would be supportive across the board.

Industry committee  I would say yes, but I'd also say that's a demonstration of the modern content-generating era, too. In the last five years, we have significantly more content that's being brought forward in every digital space.

Industry committee  I will defer in part to my library compatriots. You have seen a major uptick in the number of copyright experts in post-secondary institutions who are making the assessments about these things. Across the university sector, copyright offices have assumed significant roles within those institutions.

Industry committee  I think you are in an environment where there is more comfort and ability to access sources, to quote from sources, to be able to use them to say that this is something you should be able to experience in context.

Industry committee  For us fundamentally, again, there is probably going to be a legal decision that will have an impact on the nature of how fair dealing gets interpreted currently. This obviously has a significant impact on how this act will be interpreted into the future. Without a statutory decision, there is still going to be some action that will have an impact on how everyone on this side of the table will be interpreting their rights, moving forward.

Industry committee  Indeed, I would have an opinion on that. As it's currently laid out, and this includes textbooks, you have no mandate to have to purchase that textbook. There are models that individuals can adopt, whether that be shared or working with another colleague, or going to the library and very often checking out a textbook, that we think are essential for ensuring, again, that post-secondary education remains accessible to anybody from whatever income background they may have.

Industry committee  I'll take seven. That's a great trade. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, esteemed committee members, fellow witnesses, and members of the gallery. My name is Michael McDonald. I'm the Executive Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, otherwise known as CASA. CASA is a non-partisan organization that represents over 250,000 students at colleges, universities, and polytechnics from across the country.

Finance committee  That's a fantastic question. I think this government has shown a commitment with some of its investments in work and creative learning, which were announced just at the end of August. These are creating opportunities for STEM and business students and are an excellent jumping-off point.

Finance committee  I think that our 22 student government members in both college and polytechnic and undergraduate and graduate associations have all seen that in the changing nature of post-secondary education, it's critical to be able to get access to on-the-job opportunities, if a student wants them.