Hello, Mr. Chair. I have a prepared statement.
I'm a representative of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience, and its over 1,000 researchers.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Canada invests 1.7% of our gross domestic product on fundamental research. This puts us second last in the G7. The importance of increasing investment in fundamental research has been highlighted by the fundamental science review commissioned by Minister Kirsty Duncan and overseen by Dr. David Naylor.
The Naylor report's primary recommendation “is that the federal government should rapidly increase its investment in investigator-led research”. This means increasing funding to individual labs, so that as a nation we can collectively train the next generation of scientists who will fuel innovation and find cures and treatments for diseases that affect all Canadians. This is the important part. The Naylor report recommends an immediate investment of $155 million for investigator-initiated funding in 2018. It is the necessary first step in returning Canada to a position as a global research leader and for delivering on the government's election promise of long-term investments for the future.
We ask that the government implement all recommendations in the Naylor report, including that initial investment of $155 million in budget 2018. Just to let you know, this fits within the government's own planning framework.
I know that you know David Dodge, Mr. Chair. He said that “long-lived investment is actually a wonderful thing to be doing. It's exactly the right thing to be doing.”
Thank you very much.