Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I guess my questions will be of Michael and Karen in Winnipeg, but Joe and Glen are welcome to jump in.
I have really two questions.
This week the government's expert panel on federal support to research and development noted that Canadian business expenditure on R and D has fallen every year since 2006, both in real terms and as a percentage of GDP. The panel noted that at 1% of GDP, Canada's business expenditure on research and development is well below the OECD average of 1.6%.
My first question will be, do you concur with that assessment and do you feel that it is time now that this gap be closed?
My second question is about commercialization. I come from Guelph. There's a great deal of agricultural and food innovation in Guelph, either at the university or in the clusters around the university. I am continually told by people such as Dave Smardon at Bioenterprise and by other organizations, including a new innovations centre that has been established in Guelph to help innovators commercialize—in other words, “get their ideas to market”....
I'm wondering to what degree you see a problem existing and what you think might be a solution—for instance, the introduction of flow-through shares or other tax credits to incentivize that industry.