Mr. Chair, Laval University has submitted a brief and recommendations. The text explains various matters. So I'm going to do a brief review. The first recommendation, you won't be surprised to hear, concerns transfers for postsecondary education. I believe the federal government contribution to postsecondary education should be restored to 1994 levels, as has been requested. That is fundamentally important for the future of Canada and the province of Quebec.
Furthermore, we have emphasized various points concerning research, in particular the reimbursement of indirect research costs. The fact that the federal government currently grants only 20% is an additional charge for the universities, which are already short of money.
In addition, as regards the granting agencies, I would say that, for the Canadian Federation for Innovation in particular, which has really helped put Canada on the map, some changes should be made, and I'll say more about that, if you wish. Currently we're seeking counterpart funds from the private sector, but that's not always possible, in certain areas of the humanities, for example.
You won't be surprised to learn that we are also concerned about the core budgets of the federal councils. The federal councils are extremely important to research in Canada. We must continue to increase the amounts that are allocated to them if we want research to continue developing in Canada.
But this research must also be useful, and that's why we also recommend that the federal government immediately re-establish, enhance and develop its programs to promote discoveries. If we want the work done at universities to be as useful as possible, we must support the promotion of research. For promising laboratory work to result in a wealth-creating business, there must obviously be a transfer. There is work for governments to do here. I believe it is the role of governments to support this transition.
The sixth point that I would like to raise concerns sports infrastructures. As you know, Laval University has a plan to expand its physical education and sports pavilion. This project has been submitted to the provincial government and to the City of Quebec, and it is well supported. Our suggestion is that there be a dedicated envelope for sports infrastructure projects in the 2007 budget.
There are a lot of sports infrastructure projects in Canada. There's a lot of talk about obesity and health problems these days. Sport is important, and, in my opinion, if the federal government allocated funding to sports infrastructures, that would facilitate work that may well be done in any case, but might take more time.
I would point out that Laval University's PEPS is the most used sports centre in all of Canada east of Montreal. It's a major centre where national competitions are held. This is a very good project that I could describe further, if you wish.
As regards students, we must increasingly help our students go international, open up to other cultures and travel abroad. Laval University is one of the first universities in Canada to establish a student mobility program. The federal government should support this initiative. Not enough students in Canada go away during their education and see what is being done elsewhere. Only one or two percent do so. I think this student mobility program is fundamentally important. Similarly, we must also be able to attract foreign students here. Thinking must be done on this, as Australia and England, in particular, have done.
I'll close by suggesting some reading to you. In The Chronicle of Higher Education, someone in the United States with whom you're no doubt familiar, Richard Florida, has written about the impact of universities on their environment. This is an extremely interesting article which shows how great an impact universities have on all of society. He boils all this down to what he calls the three Ts: technology, talent and tolerance. So the emphasis is placed on the more human and social part.
Thank you.