Thank you very much for coming here today. As I've already said -- and my colleagues must be getting tired of hearing it --, since this is your first appearance before us, you must be very frustrated to have only five minutes to present your viewpoint. However, you can take some consolation in the fact that it is even more frustrating for us to have only a few minutes to put questions to witnesses.
My first question is for Mr. Vinet who, as he mentioned, is the first person from the academic community to make a submission. He is also the first person to deliver part of his presentation in French. I'm delighted to see that, even though I would have preferred it if he had spoken entirely in French. I'm sure my colleagues who are learning French would have appreciated the opportunity to get in a little practice.
On a more serious note, I read your recommendations. You talk about keeping the best students here in Canada as well as about the need to invest in post-secondary education by transferring sufficient funds to the provinces. Most Quebeckers would agree with you. However, you also say that funding should target specific areas and that recipients should be held accountable for the way in which funds are spent. In essence, are you encouraging the federal government to move into an area that is the exclusive domain of the provinces by asking them to be accountable for education issues?