You are absolutely right. We are currently dealing with complex research and development issues, which are issues being faced by the scientific community, both private and public, and which require closer cooperation. In fact, this calls for an enhanced quality of research in public institutions that do not serve private ends, but simply innovation.
We need to increase the rate of investment in public research. This is a very clear mandate of the institutes. I'll give you with some perspective: the investment that Canada makes in the institutes represents $700 million. The overall budget available to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry is $100 billion for the 20 largest companies. It is much more important for the institutes to find partnerships enabling it to align with the private sector on clearly defined objectives where the two can complement each other. We're not talking at all about seizing power over the private sector, quite the contrary.
Quebec is the best illustration of the power of these cooperative arrangements. The launch of the Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery is an obvious example of what the three sectors—if you include the government—can do together. This is an initiative that helps build on the strengths of all three partners. This kind of initiative is the envy of the other Canadian provinces and has an extraordinarily high profile outside Canada. It could only have happened because the players sat down around the table, determined the research policy and matched the competencies of the two communities.