Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
I have 1,400 questions for all of you guys, so I'm going to go through them very quickly.
Mr. Roy, a few years ago, a friend of mine went to a conference, and the former prime minister of the U.K., Gordon Brown, was there. He got on stage, and there was a 14-year-old young woman from northern Pakistan in front of him. No one understood what the topic was going to be. Then he started talking, and what he started talking about, because he is very big on education, was this 14-year-old from northern Pakistan taking a university course online. I think it was at one of the Ivy League schools in the U.S. His point was that there's a whole sea of change happening around how we're learning and how colleges and universities are changing.
We all know that universities and colleges are funded by the provinces. One of the things we always ask ourselves is this: What could our federal government do to help support whatever transitions universities and colleges need to make?
There's another thing I've noticed. I can't speak to Manitoba, but in Ontario I've seen a decrease in the amount of provincial funding for universities and colleges. It has forced them to go to international students, and in a very unhealthy way, to support their ongoing operating costs. Is that something you think needs to change?
I think the main question I have for you, just because I don't have a lot of time, is this. What could we do at the federal level to help support learning and help support universities and colleges in the 21st century?